Mysteries of Anubis
by Mari the Cryptic
Summary: What if there never was Nina Martin? What if, in her place, there was an auburn-haired girl with a dark past? Meet Mary Ann Norton, the Chosen One. Rated T for mild swearing. I do not own House of Anubis.
1. Starts

_Welcome to my version of House of Anubis. As much as I want to, I don't get much free time so I'll only be able to update every week. Please enjoy!_

**CHAPTER ONE HOUSE OF STARTS**

The train hustled along the rails as it went away. I took a deep breath, watching it grow smaller and smaller. I walked out of the station and stood there. Definitely no turning back now.

"I did order a taxi… right?" I said aloud. "Yeah… yeah I did…"

Just then, a black cab pulled up into the parking lot. Right in front of me, to be exact, because the area was empty. A short bald man stepped out from the right side. The taxi driver, I realized. I've got to get used to the opposite driving.

"Mary Ann Norton?" he asked, an accent coating his voice.

"In the flesh." I smiled. I pushed my curly auburn hair out of my eyes.

The man rounded the rear of the cab. "Ah, you're American, then."

"How'd you know?" I asked, "Was it the accent?" he nodded. He took my suitcase and opened the cab door.

"Well, hop in, love." he said. I sat in the cab and in no time we were off.

I am Mary Ann Norton. I'm American, as you probably know from the previous conversation there. I'm here in England to go to a boarding school, living the American dream. I have long and very curly auburn hair that looks black in the right light, caramel colored eyes, and an average build. I'm not short and I'm not exactly skinny, but I'm not tall or fat either. I have the average curves and chest for a girl my age (which is 15).

"I can't believe I'm going to boarding school." I exclaimed, looking out the window into the world. "You'd think boarding school would be torture, but not with this place... I hope..." My phone beeped and I checked it. Just Gran making sure I made it safely. I texted her back saying everything was great.

"Is that your parents checking up on you?" The driver asked.

"Nah, it's my gran. She brought me up. I've never been so far away from home before." I told him.

"Are you getting cold feet? Should I turn this cab back around?" he asked.

"No way!" I exclaimed. He chuckled. "I've come way to far to back down now."

"Ah, that's the spirit." he said.

After a ride of silence, he said, "Alright, we're here." I looked out the window to see the tip of a school building. "This place is big, where did you need to be?"

"Uh... It says here that I'm in the... House of Anubis." I said as I flipped through my documents. The cab parked in front of the main building. It had red bricks and looked VERY awesome and old.

"Wow." I muttered, "Welcome to Hogwarts." Then I noticed the cab driver walking off in a direction with my bag.

"H-Hey! Wait up!" I called out. I chased after him. I ran into someone, yelled, "sorry!" back to them, and sprinted to meet up with the cab driver. He stood outside of an old building. I paid him and he left. I turned around to see an old-styled red two-story building. It was beautiful.

I walked up to the front door. I was about to knock when the door opened.

"Uh... Spooky." I mumbled. I stepped inside.

"Hello?" I called out. "You left the door open. Hello?" The door shut behind me and I turned to the slam. When I faced back there was this creepy man in front of me. He was a man with greased-back black hair. He had mustache and wore a tan trench coat with a brown vest and white undershirt. He wore a black tie around his neck. He had a raven in his arms and a scowl pasted on his face.

"Isn't the doorbell working?" he asked.

"Uh... Hi." I said. "Yeah, the door was open so I-"

"Just decided to walk in." he finished for me.

"Yeah, to tell you that it was open." I said flamboyantly. Who is this guy? "I'm Mary Ann, by the way."

He took out a golden pocket watch. He checked the time and then shut it. "You're late." he told me, starting to circle around me, "Two weeks late."

"Yeah, we didn't find out about the scholarship until-"

"I don't care about the reason why you're late." he interrupted. This guy is starting to piss me off...

"Victor Rodenmaar! I hope you're giving her the warmest of welcomes," a woman said. She descended from the staircase. She was a small woman with a determined look in her dark eyes. She had black hair and dark skin. "Well, as warm as he gets anyways. Hello sweetie!" she said with so much happiness I thought I would burst. "I'm Trudy Rehman, your housemother. Welcome to Anubis House." she gestured to the entire room. "It's only slightly spookier than the brochure." she joked.

"The Anubis estate was originally built in 1890, although it wasn't actually named Anubis until 1982." Victor said. Uh... OK?

"Oh," Trudy interrupted, "Oh she doesn't care about all that boringness Victor. She's a teenager. It's all about hormones, and vampires." she looked at me.

I laughed. "Sorry, more of a werewolf gal." I joked.

"C'mon, this is the living room," she said, leading from the door way into another room. "Through here."

The room was amazing. "Wow, this place is so... Wow. This house must have a lot of stories." The room was quite large. A set of three dark couches was on one side of the room, by some double windows. A light wooded table was on the other side, surrounded by dark wooded walls.

"Now this is where I swear breakfast and evening meals," she pointing to a gorgeous wooded wall and door. There was an opening and I could see the kitchen. I started to wander when I noticed a painting of two adults with a weird marking in between them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Frobisher-Smythe." Victor said, suddenly right next to me. "The original inhabitants. They died a very... Tragic death."

Trudy laughed nervously. "Always upbeat," she joked. "Should you show her where she's going to sleep?"

"Is it ready?" Victor asked.

"Oh yes, they've cleared it."

"Very well. Follow me, please, Miss Norton." We started walking away. He took down a portrait in our way out the living room.

"Boys' rooms are downstairs. We don't want any wandering after 9 o'clock. And all lights must be out by 10. This is my room, which needless to say is strictly out of bounds." He pointed to a room with glass windows. I saw a desk and some cabinets.

We walked into a doorway away from the room. Trudy talked about what was in each room when we passed by their door. I noticed that she skipped a door. "What's that?" I asked.

"Hmm? That's the attic," she said.

"Going up into the attic or down into the cellar is strictly forbidden. Is that understood?" Victor said.

"Completely." I said.

"This is your room in here." He led me to the door right by the attic. We walked in. One side of the wall was full of stuff, the other as clean as plain paper. There was a picture of two girls on the back of the door.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Oh, that's Joy and Patricia." Trudy said. She took the picture off the door.

"Joy has left us." Victor said.

"Rather suddenly and unexpectedly if I may say so." Trudy explained.

"You may not." Victor said harshly. He tossed the picture into a trashcan by my bed. "Your trunks have already arrived," he gestured to my suitcases all by the bed foot by the blank wall. "I shall leave you to unpack." and he walked out the door. Trudy left too.

I started to unpack... So many memories of home in all this stuff... I was starting to get a little homesick.

Snap out of it, Mary Ann, I thought. You're here, it's happening. No turning back.

"Joy, I've been – " the door opened and a girl walked in. She was a girl with dark red hair with different colored streaks. Her eyes shined with surprise when she saw me.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Mary Ann. I'm the new girl. Nice to meet you."

"Who cares?!" she yelled. "Where are Joy's things? What's going on?"

"Didn't Joy leave?" I asked, clearly as confused as she was.

She took the picture from the trashcan. "Did you do this?" she asked angrily.

"No, that was-" she took my comforters and threw them out the door. "Hey what are you doing? Victor said that Joy had left!"

The girl took something from the dresser and from behind the bed. "Without this? This is her phone. Did you steal it?"

"Way to make accusations." I glared. "Of course I didn't."

"And this is Joy's as well." she showed me a stuffed rabbit doll. She took the ring on my desk.

"Hey! Give that back! You can't take it!" Now we were in the hallway.

"I don't care who you are, or where you're from, but you are NOT my roommate! Joy is. Now where is she?"

I was boiling with anger that I couldn't speak. This girl... made me want to scream!

"Did you hear what I said?" Her accent added some more drama and anger into her voice. Normally, I love accents, but this chick is flipping annoying me! "Where's Joy!"

"Can you stop yelling at me?" I yelled back. "I don't know anything! Unless she's under the bed, she could be anywhere."

"I don't believe you," she said angrily.

"Well, that's your problem, not mine." I growled.

"Patricia Williamson, what is going on?" Victor asked, coming from the attic. Thank you! Finally, someone else.

"That's what I'd like to know." The girl said. "Where's Joy?"

"Joy has left," he said plainly.

"What do you mean she's left?"

"Her parents came to school this afternoon and removed her."

"But, that's impossible." Patricia said, "Why would they do that?"

"I have absolutely no idea." Victor said.

"Joy would never leave without saying good bye. Or without her phone, or Bunsy Bun." Her fists clenched around the doll and phone and my ring.

"Give them to me, and I will forward them to her." When she didn't he said, "Give." When that was done, and Patricia shoved my ring at me, "Now, put this stuff back into the room."

"No way." Patricia said sourly. "I'm going to phone Joy and find out what's going on." She stormed off.

Victor picked up and handed me the comforters. "Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes."

I sighed and put the rest of my stuff away. Are all the people here going to be mean except for Trudy? Are all British people like this? I knew that last question was a lie, but this was just infuriating.

I walked down the stairs. Deep breath. You'll have to face them sooner or later. I walked right into the living room. Any conversation stopped so everyone could stare at me. I did a quick clothes check. Just another pair of dark jean shorts and a red tank top. A black V-neck sweater on top. OK.

I waved. "Hi! I'm Mary Ann. I'm from America."

Everyone was silent. There were seven people in the room. That Patricia chick. A blonde hair, blue-eyed boy who had an athletic build and I could tell he was the jock of the group. A blonde girl with perfectly straight hair looked like a Barbie doll – make-up and all. And an average-looking guy with black hair and greenish gray eyes. His cheeks were kind of red and he seemed like a nice person. An average girl with black hair and eyes who had tan skin and her hair was curled. There was a tall blonde boy with wind-blown hair and sparkling blue eyes. He had a sort of smug smirk programmed into his facial features. And lastly a semi-tall boy with dark skin and black hair and eyes. His eyes sparked with mischief.

The semi-tall boy stood up from his seat in the couch. "Welcome, space girl." he said with fake seriousness. "Or as they say in your language," then he made funny alien noises.

I laughed. "Sorry," I said with full seriousness masking my face, "Wrong planet. It goes like," I made a different set if noises and he just stared at me. Then he and the other tall blonde guy started cracking up. I smiled. Maybe I can fit in.

"Supper's ready." Trudy said. Everyone got up and walked to the table. Patricia glared at me. Everyone just sat down so I did too.

Barbie stood next to me. "That's my seat," she said. I stood up.

"Oh, sorry-"

"Ah, where's Mick?"

"Have you tried looking over a rainbow?" I asked. The space guy and Blondie started laughing again. Barbie handed me the pepper shaker and left the room. I shrugged and sat down again.

"You heard her, that's her seat." Patricia said bitterly.

"I don't have to talk to her... I don't have to talk to her..." I said slowly.

"That's your way, isn't it? Someone's gone for five seconds and you've already moved in." she scoffed.

"PATRICIA," the nicer boy said loudly, as if to stop her, "is head of the welcoming committee." Really? Her? The space boy chuckled.

"Pay no notice to her, just sit where ever you like." Nice Guy said. Nice, very nice.

Everyone was eating. I learned every one's name. Blondie was Jerome, other girl was Mara, space boy was Alfie, nice guy Fabian. Sports guy Mick and Barbie Amber were gone.

Alfie shoved a huge amount of pasta into his mouth.

"Stop it Alfie, that's disgusting!" Mara complained. Jerome just laughed. "And you're probably going to choke on it."

"But it's delicious this way." Alfie said through a mouthful.

"Alfie don't play with your food," Jerome said. Then he flicked his forkful of pasta at him. I started to laugh. Alfie took 2 fistful of pasta and threw it at him. Lettuce flew. Alfie threw another fistful and it hit me.

"Hey! Leave me out of this!" I laughed.

Fabian got hit. "Really guys? Every meal?" he complained.

I tied my hair back into two pigtails.

"Oops!" Patricia said, purposely lifting the water pitcher and pouring it all over me. I squealed as the cold water hit and stood up.

"Classy, Patricia." Fabian said heartlessly.

"What? It was an accident," she countered, smiling. Yeah, sure it was.

"Are you OK?" he asked me.

"Will be in a moment." I took the pitcher and was about to throw it on her when I remembered my promise to Gran. I poured the rest into my cup and took a big sip. The taste of diluted pasta filled my mouth, blech. Fabian went into the kitchen.

"So Mary Ann," Patricia said casually, "when are you going to tell us about what you know about Joy's disappearance?"

"I guess when you become a nice person." I growled, "Which doesn't seem to be anytime soon."

"C'mon. One minute, I'm sitting next to Joy in class, and the next, she's gone and you've moved in." she said. Fabian came to me with some napkins. He started helping me dry myself and wipe away the pasta while Patricia kept going.

"Bit of a coincidence, don't you think?" she said.

"Just like the one where the newbie comes and you decide to be a jerk? Yeah, real coincidental." I growled.

"Maybe she snatched her and locked her in the cellar." Alfie joked. "Wooooh!"

"Shut up, Alfie," Patricia said, annoyed. She glared at me, "Well?"

"Why don't you shut it, before I shut it for you." I threatened.

"I'll get it out of you, eventually." she said.

"Mary Ann!" Victor's voice called. He entered the living room. "Phone call for you... What is going on here?"

"Nothing," Patricia said sweetly, "just Mary Ann spilt water everywhere." I glared at her and then left with Victor. He pointed to the phone by a chair and then left up stairs.

"Hello?" I asked into the receiver.

"Are you Mary Ann Norton?" a male voice asked.

"Yes, why?"

"My name is Doctor Hayward. You're grandmother is currently with us."

"What, why? Is there something wrong with her?" I asked, nervously.

"She's in a coma," he said. "And there's a slim chance that she'll make it."

"O-OK." I stuttered. "Please contact me if she gets better or worse."

"OK."

"Thanks, Doc." and I hung up. I put my elbows on the table and covered my face with my hands. I should have been there to help her. Tears started to fall down my cheeks. I knew her health was getting bad but she insisted that I go. And now look where she is... And I hate it here...

"Is everything OK?" Fabian asked. I looked at him in the doorway.

"Yeah... Yeah everything is fine." I lied. I stood up and wiped the tears away. "I'm... Just going to… Go..." and I went upstairs. I hopped into bed after changing into my PJs. Patricia didn't bother me and I somberly laid under the covers to sleep.

_- next day -_

I got up first thing the next morning. Ignoring Patricia would be best. I dressed into my school uniform (a gray skirt with a white shirt, and a red jacket and red-and-gold tie added to the mix to make our school uniform) and left.

The gravel crunched under my feet as I walked down the street. An old woman appeared right in front of me.

"Oh, sorry," I said, even though I didn't run into her. She stared at me until I brought her to sit down on a nearby bench. She had short white hair. Wrinkles, brown eyes. Short lady.

"That's my house," she said, pointing back to Anubis house.

"Is it? I don't know. That's a school." I explained.

"No, that's my house." She insisted.

"OK, that's your house. Maybe you can tell me where you really live and I can take you back?" I noticed she was only where a dress. "Oh, you must be cold," I gave her my jacket.

"It's you, isn't it?" she said.

"Huh?"

"I knew you'd come." she said. A smile etched onto her face.

"What? Sorry, but I don't know-"

"Sarah." she said, "Sarah, my name is Sarah."

"OK, you're Sarah. Why don't you come inside and-"

"I can't go in there." she said, now terribly afraid. Her eyes continued to flicker between the house and me. "He's waiting. He's always waiting."

"Fine, I'll go get some help, and you don't move a muscle." I said.

"You're coming back..."

"I promise I'll come back." I said, and then sprinted to find Trudy.

We finally found the old people's home a little down the street. I took Sarah there.

"It's not like you to go wandering, Emily." a lady said, probably the caretaker, as we walked into the door.

"Emily?" I thought her name was Sarah. Sarah shushed me.

"She's rather confused as you've probably realized," the lady said. "But she's not normally a sprinter."

"Hey, that's Anubis House." I said, approaching a painting. "She said she used to live here."

The lady laughed shortly, "I don't think so, although with some of these old folks, you never know. Truth is, we know very little about Emily's background. ISN'T THAT RIGHT, EMILY?" she asked rather loudly.

"There's no need to shout, I'm not deaf you know." she said. I chuckled. The lady led us to Emily's room. The lady said she was Ms. Abbot.

She got Sarah/Emily into a chair and put a blanket on her. "There." she said, "Better, isn't it, Emily?"

"No." Emily/Sarah said bluntly. I chuckled.

"Now," Ms. Abbot said, glancing at her watch and then to me. "You got some time for a cup of tea or something before you head back?"

"I doubt anyone cares that I'm gone. Some tea would be nice, thanks." I said.

Ms. Abbot left the room and Emily/Sarah stood up.

"I've been waiting so long," she said, "Keeping the secret. Now it's your turn." She made me sit on the bed with her. "Quick, take this." She gave me a locket necklace thing. It was oval shaped with a red circle in the middle. "Keep it well hidden. Or they'll take it away from you. They take everything away from you in the end..."

"Oh, but I can't take this." I said. "It's yours."

"But you must! It will keep you safe. There's treasure hidden in that house, and only you have the power to find and protect it. But you must be careful. There's danger in that house. Evil. It's a bad house. A dark house..." Emily/Sarah started to zone out.

"That sounds kind of cliché." I said, "It's spooky, yeah, but evil? Emily, I don't-"

"Sarah! My name is Sarah and I know you!"

"I'm sorry, but I-"

"And you know me, Mary Ann."

I stared at her, fear building up in my chest. "H-How do you know my name!?" I stammered.

"You must beware the black bird, do you hear me? Beware the black bird!" She insisted.

I stood up. "Uh, OK." I said, heart beating fast. I then left the room without the tea and headed to school.

I managed to sneak back into class unnoticed and made it through dinner.

_- Later that evening -_

**It's evil.**

**I could see Sarah in the living room. Saying it was evil and that I should beware. I have the power. Then Victor was there as well, and his creepy stuffed raven Corbiere. Feathers started to fall everywhere. There were cawing noises too.**

**Then a man in a black trench coat and fedora was there. I was lying on the floor, and he was glaring at me. "This puny girl can't be the Chosen One." He scoffed. Everything started to grow dark, like a door was closing.**

**"Beware the black birds! Beware the black birds!" Patricia's voice said. **

My eyes flashed open. Patricia was standing over me, covering me in fake black feathers from a boa. She laughed.

"Ugh, what are you doing?" I asked, sitting up.

"Oh, nothing," she said sassily. "You woke me up." she put on a falsetto, "Beware the black bird." She laughed again and climbed into bed.

"Aww, are you scared? Gonna sleep with the light on, newbie?" She turned her light off and so did I. I took out Sarah's locket. It opened, which startled me at first, but then I could barely see a little girl's painting. I closed it and fell back asleep.

I went downstairs the next morning.

"Sleep well, Mary Ann? Caw caw." Patricia taunted. Jerome and Aflie joined in. So much for fitting in.

"Ignore them." Fabian said. I ignored him too. He's nice and all, but I really need to be alone. He asked me a question but I zoned out. It felt so real, felt... cliché, I know, but evil.

"Does anyone know where Mara is? She's got my hairbrush." Amber boomed, walking into the room.

"Yeah, she's with Mick in our room." Fabian said.

"What!?" Amber practically screeched.

"Whoa, green-eyed monster alert." Jerome joked.

"I'm not jealous." Amber scoffed. "Why would I be jealous? What is there to be jealous of?"

"She's helping him with homework, that's all." Fabian explained quickly.

"Yeah, I know all about that. And I'm cool. I would help him but I'm just, so busy." she flipped her hair. Jerome copied her. Everyone laughed. "I see you haven't sneaked out at the crack of dawn this morning." Amber said, facing me.

"Yeah, so?"

"Fabian said you'd gone to school early, but then you didn't turn up for first class." Amber said persistently. Why should she care what I do?

"Mary Ann was helping an old lady cross the road, literally." Trudy chuckled. "We had a surprise visit, from the old people's home." She explained, and then she disappeared into the kitchen.

"I'm not good with old people." Amber stated, "They're all so... old, aren't they?" Fabian choked on his orange juice while everyone else laughed. "Still, you must be used to it." she looked back to me, "Trudy said your gran brought you up."

"Yeah." I said. Don't go any further, please.

"How come? What happened to your parents?" she asked. And then she struck home.

"Uh-oh, Amber, Queen of Tact." Jerome complained.

"I don't have to tell you." I said. My face flushed and some memories started to flood in. "Because I'm entitled to my personal things."

Amber's face fell, "Oh." she said. "Fine then."

"All that matters is that Gran took care of me. We're really close." I said.

"So how come she's patched you of the a big, bad boarding school, miles away from home then?" Patricia sneered. "Sounded to me like she wanted to get rid."

"Patricia!" Fabian yelled. "Don't be such a witch! I know you're upset about Joy, but that's no right to take it out on Mary Ann!"

I stood up. "You should stay out of things that aren't your business. You don't know me, so SHUT UP! You want to know what I know about Joy? Fine. She has a bitch for a friend!" I stormed out of the room. I got my bag and ran to school.

Class ended too soon. "Biology assignments please!" Mr. Sweet said. Mr. Sweet was a tall man with graying hair. He had dark colored eyes and he wore a suit with a red bow tie with white polka dots.

I packed up when Patricia came over. I prepared for an insult when I was surprised.

"Hey, Mary Ann, I just wanted to say, sorry about breakfast." she said.

I sighed, "What do you want?" I asked. I've seen this strategy way too many times.

"I think it's about time we welcomed you into the school properly. The traditional way." By now Jerome and Alfie were there. Something was happening to trick me, scare me probably.

"What are you going on about?" Fabian asked.

"Alfie," Patricia went on, "why don't you tell Mary Ann about the initiation ceremony?"

"The what?" Fabian questioned. Yes, definite trap.

"Yeah, every new person that comes to the school has to undergo a... an initiation ceremony." Alfie said.

"Since when?" Fabian exclaimed dramatically.

"Since forever, Fabian." Patricia said, trying to win him over.

"What are you-"

"It's fine." I interrupted. "You want to trick me?" I said to the three, "Fine, I'm game. What do I have to do?"

"We'll tell you at dinner." Patricia said. Then they left. I rolled my eyes and we all dispersed.

It was preparation for dinner when they told me. "So, Mary Ann's initiation takes place tomorrow night, okay? At midnight." Patricia said.

"The witching hour, mwa ha ha ha ha!" Alfie laughed.

"Alfie cut it out." Fabian scolded.

"Tell me, Fabian, does it ever get boring, always, always being the one to say, 'cut it out' or 'that's not right'?" Jerome teased. Everyone laughed, including Fabian.

Then Fabian stopped laughing. "No." he said. I started laughing.

"But isn't the haunting hour 3 a.m.?" I asked. "That's what it's like back at home."

Jerome shrugged. "What does she have to do?" Amber asked.

"Go up to the spooky attic and bring something back to prove she's been." Alfie taunted.

"You're going up into the attic?" Amber asked.

"Sure, it's not like-"

"Totally haunted." she interrupted.

"Really?" I asked.

"She's right," Jerome said, as though he had kept it a secret, "By the ghosts of former students who went up there, never to return."

The masterminds laughed. "Getting cold feet?" Patricia asked.

I rolled my eyes. Puh-lease. "No way, maybe I can bring the ghosts down with me, and possess you three. Possess you and never give you back your body." It was my turn to laugh like a maniac. I smirked at them. "Can't wait. What am I doing tonight?"

"The key. She can't go into the attic without the key. She has to steal it from Victor." Patricia announced.

"Yes!" I cried out, "It's about time I stole something from him."

_- after dinner -_

Jerome and Alfie and Patricia were telling me how to get the key while we stood outside before the staircase down.

"What are you larks looking at?" Victor called out, coming out of his office. Alfie dropped down.

"We were just admiring your coat. Is it vintage?" I lied. Screw his coat, who cares about it!

"Just as I thought!" Alfie exclaimed. "The floor. It could use a polish."

"Ah, yes." Victor agreed, " In that case," he picked up Alfie from the floor by his arm and started to drag him downstairs. "Feel free to polish it, Alfie."

Alfie started to complain and make excuses. I bolted into the office, took the master key set, and opened the key box.

"ALFIE!" Amber's voice cried out. Something fell and I sped up. I took the key, shut the box, threw the master set back on the desk and rejoined Patricia and Jerome at the top of the stairs.

Victor looked at us suspiciously when he returned to his office, but left us alone nonetheless.

I showed them the key. "Lucky," Alfie exclaimed.

"Extremely lucky." Jerome said.

"We'll see just how lucky she'll be tomorrow night when she goes up into that attic." Patricia scoffed. I just smiled. Mary Ann, one; Patricia and Pranksters, zero.

Next thing I knew it was the next day and I was in History class. I sat down and Fabian sat next to me. He's been doing that lately, always sitting next to me and stuff.

"All the world's a stage," a loud voice said. Everyone turned around to see a man sitting in the last row. "And the men and women, are merely players. Hey. My name is Jason Winkler and I'm your new History teacher. I'll also be teaching Drama." Mr. Winkler was a young man. He had brown hair and eyes. Nice smile.

"You're Mr. Fleming's replacement?" Mara asked.

"Yeah, that's right." he smiled.

"Yay, hot teacher." I joked. He moved to the front of the classroom.

"Wow, I am so pleased he had a heart attack." Amber said. Some started laughing while others looked at her strangely. "Sorry, that didn't come out right."

_- Biology Class -_

Mr. Sweet was going on about some one's law, but I wasn't paying attention. I was looking at the locket Sarah gave me.

"That's nice, does it have a photo inside it?" Fabian asked.

I gasped because I hadn't realizing he was watching too. "No!" I said quickly, tucking it under my shirt.

"I'm sorry, I was only making conversation," he said, confused.

"Mr. Rutter," Mr. Sweet interrupted. He said something in I think Latin. "Silence is golden."

"Duct tape is silver and my bike is rusty." I finished. The class laughed.

Mr. Sweet went over to see Patricia who called him.

"Sorry." I whispered to Fabian. "The locket's supposed to be a secret."

He nodded and the bell rang. We all packed up and Fabian left. I hurried after.

"Fabian, wait up!" I called out. "I'm sorry about earlier. And before that when I ignored you. I was being a bit-"

"Rude?" he suggested.

"Well, I was going to say bitchy but, yeah, rude works too." I said.

"It's OK." he smiled. "Look, you're not seriously going to go through with this initiation nonsense are you?"

"Yup." I said.

"You don't have to," he said.

"Yeah I do." I said. "I need their souls so I can continue my master plan, mwa ha ha ha ha."

He chuckled, "You're tougher than you look."

"Like a cookie." I said, "Though I do really like soft cookies."

He chuckled and we walked to Drama together.

_- Drama -_

Alfie took a deep breath. "Yeeeeeeeeseeeeeh." he went in a high-pitched wail. He spun around and ran around the room. Everyone laughed. He bumped into Amber's chair.

"Thanks Alfie, some of us are here to learn." she said. Ha, says the one with the magazine.

"And what exactly are you supposed to be?" Mr. Winkler asked him.

"A mosquito in a spin dryer, isn't it obvious?" Alfie and I said at the same time. We all laughed.

"And now for something a little more serious." Mr. Winkler interrupted. "Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet." I groaned silently. "Timeless, tragic."

"Everywhere you look." I muttered. He started passing the books out.

"See, it says here that if your boyfriend is not paying enough attention to you, you have to flirt with someone else to make him jealous." Amber whispered to me, though why she was talking to me I had no idea.

"Swap, please, Amber." Mr. Winkler said, holding out a copy of Romeo & Juliet.

"Whoa, Winkler, you want to read girl gossip?" I asked, pretending to scoot away in my seat.

"Do I have to, sir?" Amber asked sweetly. He nodded and she swapped.

Amber and Alfie were picked to reenact a scene from the book. I was only half paying attention until I got bored and decided to pay full attention.

"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak of this?" Alfie boomed.

"Tis my name thy is my enemy. Thou art... thou art..." she looked at the crowd, then at the book. "Truly the yummiest boy I have ever seen, Romeo."

"Uh, Amber that's not in the script." Alfie said, panicked. Amber dropped her book and smooched Alfie right on the lips. Someone whistled.

"Wow." Jerome said. I stood and started clapping.

"Truly the best remake I have ever seen of this play." I yelled. Everybody laughed. I glanced at Mick, who looked quite pissed.

_- Midnight, Initiation Ceremony -_

Patricia and The Pranksters shined flashlights in my face. I winced at the light.

"Are you Mary Ann Norton?" she asked.

"... Yes." I said.

"Is there anyone who can confirm this?"

"You." I said pointedly.

"Mary Ann Norton. You are here to prove that you are brave enough to be at Anubis house. Swear on the graves of all your ancestors that you will not tell a living soul about tonight."

"I swear." I said. That you're an idiot, I thought but didn't say. "Can you shine the light away though? It hurts." I rubbed my eyes. I took my bag and we walked out the door.

Fabian, Amber, and Mara were there, holding flashlights at themselves to make the setting spooky.

"Oh, spirits of Anubis House." Patricia rambled, "Guide the new girl," she shined the light in my face, "On her initiation quest and keep her from harm in the haunted attic."

"Oh, c'mon this is ridiculous." Fabian said. Patricia shushed him back to his place.

"Unlock the door," she ordered me. I walked up to it, opened it and looked back at them.

"See ya in a moment." I said, and walked. I was only on the third step when Patricia pounced, shutting the door and locking it.

"H-Hey! Why'd you lock the door?! Let me out!" I yelled. I ran back, banging on it.

"You heard her, let her out!" Fabian said, his voice full of panic.

"Not until you tell me about Joy's disappearance." Patricia hissed.

"I don't know anything!" I yelled.

"Then you'll have to stay in there 'till morning." She concluded. Fear built up in my chest. Surely they wouldn't leave me up here all night, would they? Blood roared in my ears. I slammed my fists against the door. Memories were coming back. Bad memories.

"Alright, Patricia, you've had your fun, now unlock the door." Fabian said.

"Yeah, Patricia, this is getting silly!" Mara whispered.

"Whose side are you on?" Patricia said angrily.

I jiggled the doorknob. "Last chance," Patricia threatened. "What can you tell me about Joy!"

"Nothing! I know nothing!" I cried. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks, "Besides the fact she's missing and has a psycho for a friend I know nothing!" I banged in the door.

"You're not really going to leave her in there all night are you?" Fabian asked.

"Let me out!" I screamed. I banged on the door.

"Stop banging!" Patricia hissed.

"I'll stop banging when you let me out!" I sassed.

"What's all this noise?" Victor's voice bellowed. I stopped banging and backed away from the door. Uh-oh. I started up the stairs. There was a murmur, then I could hear the door open and close, and it and it didn't sound friendly.


	2. Escapes

_Thanks for reading my version of HOA. I'm a huge Fabina fan. I'd like to thank all of you who have reviewed/followed this story. It makes me feel loved . Anyways, school started again so I won't be able to post so often. I hate having to wait for updates on stories, so I understand how you might feel. But I finished my homework and I've finished the chapter, so I decided to post early! Enjoy!_

**CHAPTER TWO HOUSE OF ESCAPES**

I rushed into the attic. It was kind of crowded. Scared out if my wits, I clutched Sarah's locket and looked around.

Dammit! No place to hide. I could hear Victor. Or at least I hoped it was Victor. I ran across the room and stumbled, hitting the wall and falling through it. I couldn't scream because I was so scared.

Standing up hastily, I hit the wall once. Solid. So how did I fall through? More importantly, how do I get out?

I could hear footsteps outside. Victor? They faded after a while. I sighed. He left. I hit the wall some more times. Damn, how do I get out?!

Suddenly the locket glowed. I gasped, picked it up, and looked around. A similar red flash came from the wall and caught my eye. I looked closely and saw a budge in the wall, with a dent the shape of my locket in it! I took my locket and placed it on the dent. Some things around me groaned and the wall opened. I quickly made my escape. I glanced at the attic door. No Victor, thank God. I looked back at the wall. It was still a wall.

"Huh?" I mumbled. I tapped it. That's when I noticed another budge in the wall. It was more rusted, but it was definitely the same. I must have hit it when I stumbled against the wall...

I placed my locket there again and the wall opened. Wow. I looked up and saw a pair of eyes glow at me. I stumbled back and the wall closed.

I better get back. I was almost out the door when I remembered the whole reason I was up here. I picked up a random book and looked around for the last time. I took a deep breath. This place was probably the best place in the entire house, now that I've calmed down. Old and forgotten. Alone, like me. I took one last look around.

I noticed that the ring on my finger looked similar to the stain-glass window that was somewhat near the door. The ring was my mom's. Her wedding ring, actually. It was the only thing I had left of her.

I took another breath and walked down the stairs. Good time to have worn hairpins. I started to pick the lock when I heard my name being whispered. I jumped, but kept picking. The door clicked, and I smiled. Success! I withdrew my hairpin and threw the door open. There stood Fabian and Amber, both looking startled.

"… Hi." I said breathlessly. Neither of them said anything. "How's it hanging?"

"H-How did you…?" Amber stammered. I showed them the hairpin and flashed a smile. I started to laugh, but Fabian shushed me.

"We don't want Victor up again." He said. I closed the door to the attic quietly. "Are you OK?" he asked.

"Hmm? Yeah, totally." I lied. I locked the door with the hairpin. I muttered, "Thank God I took those tutorials…"

"So? What was it like up there?" Amber asked, "See any ghosts?"

"None." I answered, disappointed. "Just books, spiders, and I think a rat or two."

Amber gasp. She linked arms with me as if we were the best of friends, "You are so-o-o-o brave."

Victor coughed from his office. "Night, you two." Amber said. "See you in the morning." and she tiptoed to her room.

I took a deep, calming breath. "You did well." Fabian smiled at me. I smiled too.

"Thanks... Don't tell Patricia, but when you called my name I jumped twenty feet in the air." I chuckled softly.

"Hey, your secret's safe with me." he promised. He bid me farewell and snuck back downstairs. Maybe I can trust some people. Amber and Fabian were there for me when I got out…

Taking one last glance at the attic door, I snuck into my room. Patricia was fast asleep and I didn't have to deal with her. I put my bag away and wrapped myself into my blankets, so happy to be in warmth that I immediately fell asleep.

_~ Next morning ~_

5 days with no word about Gran.

I walked down to breakfast. When I entered the room, everyone (minus Patricia, obviously) started to clap.

"We were certain Victor would get you." Jerome said.

"Yeah, either Victor or the flesh eating zombies." Alfie said.

I chuckled. "Sorry, not even a ghost." I said. "Mostly rat bones."

"Cool." Alfie shrugged, taking an apple and walking to his seat. Patricia was glaring at me from the other side of the table as I sat down.

"Was it really scary up there?" Mara asked.

"Yeah, like a graveyard in the sky." I joked. "Nah, just plain ole dusty attics with tons of junk lying around."

"Don't you think she was brave?" Amber asked everyone.

"Even you have to admit, Patricia," Fabian said, "Mary Ann passed her initiation test with flying colors."

"No," Patricia argued, "She didn't bring anything back, did she?"

"I don't know. I think getting locked in by the initiator counts for more than enough, then escaping without getting caught by the owner of the House." Fabian said.

"I don't know either," I said, reaching into my bag, "I got a little present while I was up there." I took out the book I took from the attic.

"Yes!" Alfie exclaimed. Jerome laughed. Patricia stood up and stormed out of the room.

"Patricia! Wait!" Mara ran after her. I shrugged and ate my breakfast.

Soon enough I was walking to school. "Mary Ann! Wait!" Fabian called out, chasing after me.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I just wanted to ask if you didn't mind if I, um..." he seemed to forget what he was going to say, or maybe he didn't know what he was going to say. "Sh-Shall..." he sighed. I stifled a laugh. "Do you fancy walking over with me?"

I laughed. "Sure, I' 'fancy' that." I laughed again. "So, how's-" Fabian threw himself into the bushes. "Uh… Oh... Kay...?" he looked like he was looking for something. "Is this some British custom or something?"

"Oh, no, I'm just looking for something." he said.

"I got that much." I stated.

"Wait... Hang on, hang on..." he said.

"I ain't going anywhere."

"Yes!" He got out of the bushes. "I got it." He showed me the attic key.

"How'd it get outside?" I laughed as I plucked a leaf from his hair.

"I think this needs to finds its way back to Victor's key box before it's missed." he said.

"Nope." I took the key from him. "I'm going to need it to get back into the attic."

"Wait." he stopped, "you're going back up into the attic? Why would you risk getting caught again?"

"Even though I was scared out of my wits, once I calmed down, it was the first time since I've been here when I actually felt... normal, safe, I don't know. Welcomed. I can relate to the attic." I waved my hands around. "And I need to know."

"Need to know what?"

"I think I saw someone up there."

"You saw someone?"

That's when the thought hit me. "What if... What if there really is something strange about Joy's disappearance? What if she never left? What if Joy's still here?" I didn't give him a chance to reply. "I know, insane, huh? What was I thinking?"

And the walk to school was silent after that.

"So, how did you see someone in the attic?" Fabian asked when we entered the school building.

I explained the panel that led to a secret room in the attic. I left out the locket and Sarah though.

"So, this panel," he said as we sat down for our first class. "It just opened up when you fell against it?"

"Uh... sort of?"

"Sort of." he repeated, "What kind of answer is that?"

"Well, there are... other things."

"You really are a girl of mystery aren't you." he smiled. I smiled. "If you're going up there again... then I'm coming with you. And that's all there is to it."

"Forceful much?" I joked.

"It was, wasn't it..." I patted him on the shoulder. "You can trust me, Mary Ann. I promise."

"No I can't. You're going to use your charm and use me." I teased. "I know. So I'll tell you, but during lunch."

_~ After school ~_

I told Fabian everything, starting with Sarah. We agreed that we should go up tonight.

I was doing my homework on my bed when Amber suddenly busted into the room.

"It worked! It worked it worked it worked!" she was squealing.

"Huh-WHOA!" she dragged me to her room.

"You see! My plan totally worked after all!" she dragged me to her bed. On it, it said 'MEET ME IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM? 11 PM? XXX' in sweets. "Mick wants to meet me in the laundry room. I obviously made him wild with jealousy and now he wants to apologize for his bad behavior with Mara and kiss and make up." Amber went to her closet.

"If Mick's the one who wrote the message." I pointed out. "Why am I even here?"

"Of course he wrote the message!" Amber said, tossing some dresses on the bed. "Mary Ann, sometimes I think you miss so much because you're American." I just sighed, rolling my eyes playfully. "I always thought Americans were blonde and tan."

"That's barely true, but there are some Americans like that." I said. "I was born with this hair color. I don't like to exercise, so I don't go out much, so I'm really pale." I explained.

She made me look at like a thousand dresses! I didn't think her closet could fit that many! But I got to try some myself - despite my hatred to dresses - so it wasn't a total loss.

"IT'S TEN O' CLOCK! YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES PRECISELY, AND THEN I WANT TO BE ABLE TO HEAR A PIN DROP!" Victor boomed. I was already under the covers and waiting for Fabian's knock.

It was around 11 when the knock came. I snuck out the door and met up with Fabian. "Hi."

"Hey." I shut the door and another one opened. Dang it! Forgot about Amber's date with Mick!

"Oh, are you two on a date as well?" she asked as she tiptoed over.

"No." Fabian and I replied. "No, no, no, no, no."

Amber rolled her eyes. "Whatever." and she tiptoed out the door.

Fabian and I looked at each other and chuckled.

We snuck up to the attic.

"Need a torch?" He asked.

"I don't think we need fire right now." I said. He clicked on a flashlight with a smirk on his face. I laughed lightly. "American, remember? Torches are sticks on fire where I'm from." He only shrugged and I walked over to the budge, which I'm just going to call the switch, and looked back to Fabian. I smiled; he had no idea what I was going to do. I took the locket and placed it on the switch. The panel opened. I looked in and the eyes were there. Fabian yelped.

"It's only a painting! It's a painting!" I discovered. I took it out. The painting was huge.

"That was... seriously scary!" Fabian said. I stepped out of the panel. "The eyes were glowing and... looking at me." he shuddered.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that the painting of a little girl made you scream." I teased.

"I didn't scream," he argued. I rolled my eyes and stared at the painting.

"She seems... familiar..." I handed the painting to Fabian and took a look at the locket. "You were right, there is a photo in here." I compared the girl to the painting.

"They're the same. Who is this?" Fabian lifted the portrait and I saw something.

"Hey! Look here." I pointed to a corner on the back. He set it on the ground.

"It looks like Egyptian hieroglyphs," he stated. He flipped his phone open and took a picture of the hieroglyphics.

"You know, Sarah said that there was treasure hidden in the house."

"What kind of treasure?"

"Well, she's not very specific so I don't know." I admitted. "But we should go see her." He agreed.

"Well." I said, standing up. "That's enough snooping. Let's head down."

We snuck down and I sneaked into my room without a peep.

_~ Next day ~_

There have still been no sign from Gran's doctor.

I was walking to the living room when I saw Amber.

"Hey, babe." I said, walking by her side, "what's the matter?" She was sulking, first I've seen of it.

"Mick ditched me last night," she said. "He said to meet in the laundry room at 11 and then didn't show up."

"That's screwy. You deserve better than that ole fool. I mean, look at you. You're the model of the school." I said, giving her a comfort hug, "And that jerk made me watch you look for the right outfit. I'll give him a good whack next time I see 'em, OK?" she nodded sadly. I slapped her lightly on the back. "Lighten up, sister. You're saddening up my day."

I walked in and sat at the table. Fabian sat next to me. "Hi."

"Hey." I greeted.

"So... I was wondering..." Fabian said softly.

"Oh, boy. Do you know the question this time?" I teased.

"Yes." he said confidently, but his cheeks still flushed. "I was wondering if you wanted to work on the History project with me?"

I hesitated. "OK. Sure." His smile brightened. "On one condition."

He frowned. "What condition?"

"You..." I trailed to add suspense to the simple question. "… have to be my friend."

He shook his head and smiled, "Really? That's the condition? I could have sworn we were already friends."

"Really?" I asked. "Oh that's great!" I gave him an awkward side hug. "I have an adorable British friend!" I cheered.

"Adorable?"

"In your nerdy Britishness." I teased.

He shook his head and sighed. "So we're still sneaking out this lunch time, right?"

"Yes. You're getting good at sneaking." We stood up.

"I'm learning from the best." he complimented.

"Whisper, whisper, whisper," Patricia sneered. "Very cozy. Since when did you become her friend instead of mine, Fabian?"

"Since you became such a witch, Patricia." and we walked out the door, me with a hidden smile on my face.

On the way to school Fabian and I talked about what our subject might be. We finally came up with one.

_~ History class ~_

"So have you guys given any more thought to your ancient history project yet?" Mr. Winkler asked. He looked around but no hands rose. "Mick?" he asked.

"Yeah, history of the Roman gladiatorial games." Totally American. All the guys want to do gladiatorial games and wars and that stuff. Thankfully Fabian didn't suggest anything like that.

"Excellent." Mr. Winkler exclaimed.

Mick went on, "With a practical demonstration of me as a gladiator, humiliating and destroying Alfie in a very public arena.

"Well, technically, if someone died in a Roman gladiator game, they were worshipped as heroes." I corrected. "So even if you destroyed Alfie, if you want it Roman style, you can't humiliate him because he'll die a hero."

"Uh, thank you, Mary Ann, for that correction." Mr. Winkler said. "Uh, Fabian. Any thoughts on your project?"

"Yeah, me and Mary Ann thought we could do something on Egyptian mythology."

"Yeah, since Anubis House is named after an Egyptian god." I added.

"Yeah, nice one, nice one." Mr. Winkler agreed. "You know, I'm a particular fan of Egyptian mythology, all that interest in life after death and living forever."

"Ugh, who'd want to live forever? Imagine how wrinkled you'd get." Amber complained.

"What happened to vampires?" I asked.

"Right, Egyptian mythology. Anything else? Anyone?" he wrote 'Egyptian' on the board. "You two." he interrupted Amber and Mick, who were arguing. "Quiet."

The bell rang.

"Okay, we'll continue this discussion after lunch." Mr. Winkler said.

"Ready?" I asked Fabian.

"As I'll ever be," he replied.

And we left. It was a silent walk, but we got there.

And Ms. Abbot was there. "Hi, Ms. Abbot." I greeted.

"Oh, hello, Mary Ann." she replied. "Whose your friend there?" I turned to see Fabian rushing through the door.

"Oh, this is Fabian." I said. "Fabian, this is Ms. Abbot."

"Hi." he waved.

"A nice fellow. Is he your boyfriend?" Ms. Abbot asked.

"No!" I said quickly. "No, no, just a friend." Ms. Abbot chuckled.

"I assume you're both here to see Emily?" Ms. Abbot said.

"Yeah." I said.

"Emily?" Fabian whispered to me.

"Tell you later." I replied. Ms. Abbot led us to Sarah's room.

"In here." she said.

"Thanks." I said. I walked in. Sarah was lying in bed, obviously pretending to be asleep.

"Sarah," I said loudly to wake her. "Hello."

Her eyes open. When she noticed it was me, she smiled and sat up excitedly. "Oh, it's you! Have you found it yet?"

"Found what?" I asked.

"The treasure." She said.

"Not yet. Do you know where it is?"

"You won't let him find it, will you? Promise me you won't let him find it!"

"I promise." I said, startled. I took out the locket. "Sarah, who is this?" I opened it and showed her the picture of the girl.

"Well, is it you?" she asked.

"Nah, she's way too cute." I said sadly.

"It looks like you." She insisted. Suddenly, she noticed Fabian, who was in the doorway. She started to panic "Who's that?"

"Don't worry, it's Fabian. He's a friend." I explained quickly. "Sarah, meet Fabian. Fabian, meet Sarah."

But Sarah wasn't having it that way. "Y-You mustn't let him see it!" she whispered, "Quickly! Hide it!" I back up, throwing the locket around my neck and shoving it under my shirt.

"It's gone." I assured her. "It's all gone. It's OK, Sarah. It's going to be alright."

"Good…" Sarah said, relaxing. "The black bird is watching the house. You have to be careful!" she warned. Then she fell asleep.

"We won't get anymore from her today." I told Fabian. "Maybe the book I took from the attic will say something." He agreed and we left.

_~ Back at the school ~_

"This book rocks!" I declared, "It has a whole section on Egyptian hieroglyphics!" Fabian stared at the girl in the locket. I doubled back on what I just said. "That didn't sound very cool." I realized.

"She's right." Fabian concluded from the locket. "This definitely looks like you."

"No way." I denied, taking it back.

"C'mon, she's got the same pretty eyes." Fabian said.

"The eye color is completely wrong!" I argued, "wait... you think my eyes are pretty?" He blushed and looked at the floor. I decided to spare him the teasing and closed the locket. "Even if it is me in the locket, we still don't have any idea about the girl in the picture, or the treasure, or Sarah's connection to the house, or if she's even called Sarah."

"Yeah, but one thing for certain, this locket definitely belong to her and it opens a secret panel in the house." Fabian said.

"That's two things." I noted.

"You know what I mean." he sighed.

"But you're right, which means that Sarah or whatever her name is must have either lived in or visited Anubis House at some point in the past." I laid back on the couch we were sitting on. "What if the girl is Sarah?" I questioned.

"What if the black bird is Corbiere?" Fabian questioned as well.

"Well we have the upper hand because he's stuffed." I replied and we laughed. "It is weird though, all this black bird nonsense."

"This whole thing is weird." Fabian agreed. I gave him my famous smirk. The bell then rang and we headed back to class.

_~ After school ~_

I ran into the kitchen to see Alfie on the couch with a bandage-cast-thing on his foot, Jerome just standing around, Amber making toast, Mick coming out the door with the bowl of fruit ("you can eat all that!?") and Fabian eating a snack. I had the Attic Book - as I like to call it - and I sat down next to Fabian.

"Can I see your phone? The pictures from last night?" I asked. He handed it to me. I was looking through Attic Book.

"How's that ankle, Alfie?" Fabian asked rather loudly.

"Oh, really bad." Alfie said rather quickly.

"Got it." I said. I showed him. "Okay, this symbol-" I pointed to middle - "- means terrace hill, or stairs. And this one -" pointing to most right- "means buried or underneath. And this one-" last symbol- "- means the number 8. So, what if the treasure is buried underneath the eighth stair."

"You think?"

"Don't know, but it's worth a shot." I said.

I saw Amber give Alfie some toast and tea. Alfie complimented her. "Amber told me what Mick did. I think it's pretty mean."

"After what Amber and Alfie did, I'm surprised Mick didn't do more damage." Fabian said.

"Why? What did they do?"

"They went on a date."

"What're you talking 'bout?! How's that possible - are we talking about the same two people?"

"It was the same night we went up to the attic. Remember, we bumped into her in the corridor and she was all dressed up?"

"Yeah, for her date with Mick. Definitely not Alfie."

"What?"

"Yeah, she got a message from Mick, or she thought it was from him, arranging to meet in the laundry room, but he never showed. She made me look at around a thousand outfits!"

"Really?" he asked doubtfully.

"Well, a thousand may be a stretch, but not by much." I admitted. He chuckled. We looked over at Alfie and Jerome.

"Well, best be off." and I left.

_~ Next day, after school ~_

Fabian and I were sitting at the table. "So, are we up for tonight? I'm so glad I decided to bring my bike tools." I asked him.

"What for?" he asked obliviously.

"Prying up floorboards, dummy." I poked him in the forehead. He chuckled.

Patricia gasped. "YES!" she cried out. "I have an email from Joy." We all huddled around her.

"What did she say?" Jerome asked.

"Hi Patricia." Alfie said in a stupid voice.

"Hang on, I'll read it." Patricia said. "_Hi Patricia_-"

"Yes! That's it, I'm psychic!" Alfie declared.

"Shut it." I joked.

Patricia continued. "_Sorry I haven't been in touch, it's been hectic since I left. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I'm fine. I know it probably seemed about odd of me disappearing like that, but Dad's business went under and he needed to get me out of there ASAP. I was a bit shocked myself. Hope you're all OK and missing me too much. Love, Joy_." she finished. "There's no smiley face at the end. Joy always puts a smiley face. And there's no text speak it's all been written out properly."

"Joy's learned to spell at last. Hooray!" Jerome joked.

"And it's from a new email address." Patricia noted.

"Oh just be happy she wrote to you." I complained.

"Sometimes I use text speak and sometimes I don't." Mara said.

"And a new email address makes sense if she's moved house." Fabian said.

"Guess you're right." Patricia gave in. "Sorry, I've been driving you all crazy."

"Yeah, kind of." I mumbled.

"Especially you Mary Ann." she gave me a weak attempt at a smile.

"Nothing a few days in a mental institute won't fix." I shrugged. "It's fine, it's not like-"

"Hey everyone, I have great news!" Amber interrupted, walking into the room hand-in-hand with Mick. "Mick and I have made up."

"Fantastic." I said.

"Great." Fabian agreed. Alfie's head hung.

"And we're having a party to celebrate." Amber squealed. "Tomorrow night, you're all invited."

"Great!" he said with false enthusiasm.

I stood up. "Party time!" I yelled happily.

_~ MIDNIGHT ~_

I snuck down the stairs. Victor was asleep in his office. One… Two… Three… Four…. Five… Six…. Seven… Eighth step, bingo. I took out my tools.

Fabian stumbled behind me. "Shhh!" I said, checking to make sure Victor didn't wake.

Together we pulled the board up. "There's nothing here." I whispered.

"Wait – here." he picked up a key.

"I wonder what this does." I said, taking it from him. Victor coughed.

"I've got to get back. Go, go, go, go, go." Fabian said. And then it was only me. I put the key with my tools. I was going when I tripped, making a loud thud.

"Who's there?" Victor asked. I quickly escaped downstairs. I pressed against the wall of the stairs. I could feel him coming closer. A flashback from when I was eight came to me. I remember hiding, but with no luck. Victor's coming closer… So close and so close until-

SNAP!

"Ooh." Victor groaned. Ha-ha, tripped on the eighth step. He fixes it back and hobbled upstairs. Trudy came out of the dormitories. She walked over to Victor.

"Victor, sweetie, what have you done?" she asked.

"What does it look like I've done? And don't call me sweetie."

"Sorry, sweetie." she corrected herself, "Sorry."

"I need to strap my ankle, but I can't get into this blasted thing!" he hit the first aide kit.

"Well, that's because I locked it." Trudy explained. "Another one of your excellent habits rubbing off on me. I'll go get the key."

"Don't bother." Victor said. "There's a spare one somewhere." he hobbled to the key box. "Do you have the spare attic key as well?"

"Of course not." I took this moment to sneak back to the door to the dormitories. I kept my ear to the door.

"Well somebody has. Those vermin are up to no good, Trudy. Somebody is going to pay for this. You mark my words." I snuck back to my room.

Uh-oh.


	3. Replacements

_Hello Internet! Here's the new installment. Thank you to all of you who have Favorited, Followed, or Reviewed. A special thanks to houseofanubisfan2, who has done all three. It means a lot, really. I've decided to update the story twice a week because I feel awful for making you all suffer through the lonely seven-day period. On Tuesday and Friday (or Saturday/Sunday, if I'm busy), I'll update a chapter. Enjoy!_

_Oh yeah, and has anyone watched season 3 of HOA yet? If so, PM me and we can talk about it!_

**CHAPTER THREE HOUSE OF REPLACEMENTS**

The next morning I walked downstairs, manga book in hand. I am a total manga-fanatic, yes. Meanwhile, breakfast was cheery. And Patricia seemed to have some gossip to spread.

"Did you hear?" she asked, "Late last night, Victor fell down the stairs and broke his leg!" Everyone laughed and I shook off the feeling of guilt. It was my fault he had tripped. If I didn't make so much noise he would never have fallen. But then again, who knows who else could've fallen instead.

Trudy, on the other hand, didn't find it quite as funny. "Don't exaggerate, Patricia."

Alfie laughed even more. "Eggs-agerate. Good one." He pointed out, somehow piecing together the breakfast foods with puns.

"Terrible yolk, Alfie." Jerome remarked. Everyone laughed again.

"It's a sprained ankle. That's all," Trudy explained, over the laughter.

"A very painful sprained ankle." Victor said, entering the room suddenly. All laughter died down. "Someone sabotaged that floorboard on purpose."

I noticed Fabian look down while Trudy tried to defend our "innocence." "I remember telling you about it last year." She said defensively.

Jumping to save our skins, Fabian said, "That's right, I've fell on it myself a few times."

"Someone," Victor said, unshaken, "is up to something. And I intend to find out what it is. And who." He leaned on the back of my chair, and I bunched my shoulders up to my ears. "Now get to school."

_~ At school ~_

"Victor is on to our search and I don't think we should go up to the attic again for a while," Fabian said as we walked down the school hallway.

"But we have to." I argued. "That key opens something and once the mystery starts it sucks ya right in."

"You look all sweet and innocent for a risk-taker," he noted.

"It might be worth it." I shrugged. "Oh, and Victor knows the key is missing, so we only have so much time to milk it for all its worth." I walked on when he stopped at his locker to get to my own. Humming "Had Enough" by Breaking Benjamin, I headed to my next class.

_~ Evening ~_

Dressed in a pretty red top and black skinny jeans, I headed to the bathroom to make sure my hair didn't curl too too much. When I got back, something was jamming the door. After a second it opened to show Mara and Patricia standing there.

"Well, hello." I said suspiciously. Patricia seemed kinda pissed. "The party's on downstairs. Alfie's teaching Trudy to dance teen-style."

"Yeah, we know, we were just going down, weren't we Patricia?" Mara said. And then it was just me in the room. Swiftly grabbing both keys from my precious box of secrets, I flew down the stairs to find Fabian.

"Look what I've got." I sang quietly when I ran to him.

"You're not seriously thinking of going up there now are you?" he asked, surprised. When I nodded, he muttered, "Of course you are."

"Why not? Everyone's down here, meaning the upstairs is Victor's prowling-free. Unless you're too scared of Alfie's vampire costume to go." I taunted.

One glance at Alfie's fake fangs that you can get at a toy store, Fabian turned back to me. "You are very persuasive." He sighed. "Let's do it."

I just giggled and dragged him by the hand to the stairs.

Searching and searching, we found absolutely nothing. But then hidden between some bigger boxes, I found a wooden, smaller box with a keyhole. Heart in my throat, I brought to Fabian. We sat on a trunk and I pulled out the key. It was a perfect match!

"Yay!" I whispered. Inside were some old metal cylinders and a jeweled case with… more hieroglyphics. Fabian picked up a cylinder.

"What are these?"

"I dunno… What about this?" Picking up the case, I shined a flashlight over it. "So old…"

"Hey!" Fabian realized. "My uncle is an antique dealer. I bet if we took this stuff to him, he'd be able to figure out what it was."

"I dunno, Sarah was so secretive." I said doubtfully. Then there was a loud bang! "What was that?"

"Probably just a door slamming downstairs." He assumed.

"Well, I'm done for tonight. I'll put these away, meet you at the party, kay?" Shoving the box contents into my bag, we split at the attic door. I raced to my room and took out my precious box. I kept some personal stuff in there: the keys, some photos, and my mom's ring. And my laptop, of course. I took out the jeweled case from the attic and fumbled with it.

Knock knock.

Quickly shutting the box shut with the case inside before the door opened, I tried to look innocent.

"I was wondering where you were, you missed the cake." Amber said, entering.

"Aw, seriously? Is there any left? Sorry. Was it delish?" I asked.

"Is that a jewelry box?" she asked, shutting the door and completely ignoring my questions.

"Sort of." I said, gripping the edges of the box.

"Oh I LOVE jewelry!" she said, and sat next to me on my bed. "Can I see?"

"On, no no no." I stammered. "It's probably not your taste." Shoving the box under my bed, I couldn't help but feel a little guilty with her sad expression.

"I hope we become a little friendlier when we become room-mates." She said, disappointed.

"Wait – what?"

"I'm swapping rooms with Patricia." She admitted. "We'll be sharing from now on!"

"Really? Awesome!" Could be better than Trixie. "I bet Patricia set this up didn't she."

"No, it was my idea. I had a fight with Mara…" her face saddened.

"Cheer up, gal! Let's get the cake before Alfie does!"

"Trudy's cake IS to die for." Amber said. Linking arms, we headed out the door.

The party was still as wild as when I left it, music blaring and people talking. Everyone was so happy… Eventually Amber left me to dance with Mick while I ate some cake. Man, it WAS to die for!

"Mary Ann!" Fabian suddenly appeared in front of me. "Do you… Do you want to dance?"

"Totally." I smiled. I couldn't help it; his smile was so cute it was impossible NOT to smile! "I just hope you can dance." I teased. He just chuckled and we headed to the dance floor.

It was short-lived though, because in no time at all Alfie can soaring in with a deer head on his own. "Hey!" he said, "Look at me, I'm a party animal! Yeah!" Everyone just laughed.

But that moment was also short-lived, for he had bumped, straight into a pissed-off Victor! "Turn that racket off." He snarled. Fabian hastened to fulfill the wish and all became quiet…

"ANYONE WHO DOESN'T LIVE HERE, OUT! The partying is over!" he yelled. "And you." He pointed at Alfie with his cane. "How dare you mess with that, take it off your head immediately!"

Alfie struggled though. "I can't!" Everyone laughed but Victor yelled at us.

"I have had enough of you vermin. Who has got the spare key to the attic? Hm?" I shared a worried glance with Fabian. "I know somebody's been up there. Tonight, as a matter of fact! Oh yes. You think you're all so clever, but you are not as clever as me. WHO HAS IT?"

"It's really hot in here…" Alfie whimpered in the deer head. "I can't breathe."

"Well then," Victor replied, "We will just have to saw it off!" Using his cane, he took Alfie by the neck and they exited the room, all the while Alfie pleading "no."

"What do we do now?" Fabian asked me.

"I dunno, I dunno… Wait… yes, yes I do know." I said, waving a finger. "Thankfully, I kept the key in my pocket…" I winked, "See ya in a bit."

Slinking up the stairs slowly, I could see Trudy walking away from Victor's office and Victor trying to yank the head from Alfie. Crawling to the door of the office, I slipped the key from my pocket to the ground next to the filing cabinet. Rushing, I got away and slipped back into the living room.

"Where were you?" Mara asked when I reentered. I explained how I left the key.

"You left it on the floor?" Jerome repeated.

"It's not the best idea, but it was a good one." I said. "And now he can't search us for it. Trust me."

"And why should we take the wrath for you?" Jerome sneered.

"Why?" Fabian repeated, "Because you guys are the ones that made Mary Ann steal the key in the first place!"

Victor then walked into the room, waving the key. "Very clever, very clever!" he said. "Who did it? Hm? Who put this on the floor outside my office? Who?" He went down the line of that the residents had made, each one saying they didn't.

When he got to me, I said no, but then said yes. Better me than them. And I can get them back later… "It was me."

"AHA!" Victor cried.

"No," Fabian said, stepping up. "She's covering for me. I did it."

"You?"

"Guilty as charged." He admitted.

"No way, it was me!" I said.

"Make up your minds, who was it?" Victor said angrily.

"It was me." Mick said suddenly. "I did it."

"What?" Victor said in confusion.

"No, it was actually me." Mara confessed. I couldn't believe it, they were defending me!

"Oh yeah…" Amber nodded, then shook it. "No, it was me. I lo-o-o-ove to steal keys, so much."

"Actually, it was me." Patricia said. She then grinned at me. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Stop playing me for a fool," Victor growled. "Jerome, I know I can rely on you. Who is it?"

Glancing around the room, I could see that smirk in his eyes. He looked back to the cranky caretaker and said, "It was me."

"That. Is. It." Victor spat through his teeth. "That is it! You are all grounded for the entire weekend!" Then he stormed from the room. Once he left we all smiled and started to laugh.

_~TIME WARP! ~_

It turned out that being grounded was so bad. It was over before I could say "WUZ UP" five times fast. Amber was an okay roomie that didn't pry too much. Next thing I knew I was walking down the school corridor with Fabian.

"Since we're all grounded, guess who did a little research on those hieroglyphics?" he said.

"Santa Claus?" I answered with fake hopefulness. He laughed. "And?"

"Nothing." He said, disappointed. "Total dead end, it's like they don't exist. The Internet has just never heard of them."

"Damn, there goes my Pharaohs-Will-Come-Back-From-The-Dead-And-Rule-Us-All theory." I sighed. "I was really hoping they'd be as easy as the last clue."

"Have you thought any more about taking this stuff to my uncle? How else are we supposed to find out what they are?"

I sighed. "We'll go at lunchtime, kay?" I agreed. He smiled.

_~ At the Shop ~_

The bells on the door jangled when we entered.

"Uncle Aide?" Fabian called out. When he said his uncle was an antique dealer, he really meant it. The place was so crowded of junk that it reminded me of the attic. "Uncle Aide!"

"Ah, customers!" a male voice declared. "How wonderful. I haven't had a customer all week!"

I suppressed a giggle. He thought we were costumers, and just admitted he didn't get much service. "We're not customers, Uncle Aide." Judging by Fabian's voice, I could tell he was trying not to laugh as well. "It's me, Fabian? Hence the 'uncle' greeting."

"No." Uncle Aide replied. "No, no, no. That can't be Fabian." Though when he got closer he muttered, "Ah, yes… So it is… I should get some new glasses…" Then he noticed me. "And who is this fair maiden beside you? Could it be your girlfriend perhaps?"

I blushed. "No, no." Fabian stuttered, "This is Mary Ann. She's just a friend."

His uncle sighed. "Don't they teach you anything useful at that school of yours? Five years he's been there and I can count fingers on one hand how many times he's been to visit his dusty old uncle. It's not right, is it young lady?"

"I hereby and evermore, hence say and thereafter stay out of family complex." I said with complication.

"Especially I make the best lemonade in the entire universe. Would you like a glass? And how about some lunch? I've made some bubble and squeak." He offered.

"Ohhh…. Kay…. Even though it sounds like hamsters…" I said while nodding slowly.

The guys laughed. "Bubble and squeak is an English delicacy." Fabian's uncle explained. "Come! Come through! Tell me how I can be of assistance." He led us deeper into the shop, through paths of a foot between dressers and cabinets and stuff.

Sitting down at a rusty old table with some "bubble and squeak" and lemonade, we showed him the cylinders.

"How fascinating." He said, observing one. "These are phonographic cylinders, in extremely good condition too."

"What do they do?" I asked.

"Well, these are the exact same thing as mini cassettes, only from the beginning of the 20th century."

"Do you mean, there's something recorded on those?" Fabian asked.

"There could very well be, yes."

"Do you have a machine we could play them on, Uncle Aide?"

"Unfortunately, no. But I do think I have a picture of one though… I'll go and have a look. It's over here somewhere… Ah! Here we are! Yes…. " He came back with an old book. "Here. Edison's Phonograph."

"Hey, I've seen one before. There's one like this in the attic." I whispered to Fabian.

"The attic." He mumbled. He continued to look at the book when I noticed his uncle pick up the case.

"Oh, that's nothing." I stammered. "Could I have it back?"

"So intriguing. Very intriguing." He said.

"Do you know what it is?" Fabian asked.

"I have absolutely no idea." He replied. "But do you think I could keep it for a couple of days?"

"Sorry, but no. It's, uh, my grandfather's." I grabbed my bag.

"Perhaps he could tell you about its history." Uncle Aide suggested.

"Not likely. He… died awhile back." I said, not exactly lying.

"You and my nephew are really made for each other, aren't you?" He said, off task. I blushed and looked away.

"Anyways, must be off, Uncle Aide." Fabian said quickly, "We're due back in school now. Thank you so much for you help."

"Thanks a ton. Nice to meet you." I said, tailing Fabian as he raced out the door. We were silent all the way until…

"Sorry about that." Fabian apologized as we entered school grounds. "That was extremely awkward."

"It's okay. He's cool." I said. Though I did have one question. "Why do people always think we're dating?"


	4. Screams

_So, I came up with the name "Mary Ann Norton" when I was looking for last names that went well with "Mary Ann" (I always loved the name, so I decided why not?). I found "Norton", and then I thought it was funny. Nina Martin, Mary Ann Norton? Their last names sound nearly the same. Their initials are even reversed. And thus, the name was born._

**CHAPTER FOUR HOUSE OF SCREAMS**

"You're late." Mrs. Andrews said as Fabian and I walked into her classroom.

"Sorry…" we said in unison. I stifled a laugh.

Mrs. Andrews sighed. "No matter, get to your places we're about to start." We went to our seats and I placed the headphones over my ears. "Have you seen Patricia on your travels?" I shook my head while Fabian said no. "Very well, she'll be getting an F then. We'll start the test." She then pressed a button and a woman's voice flooded my ears…

Next thing I knew the bell was ringing and I had answered the last question. "Okay, time's up!" Mrs. Andrews called out. I took off the headphones, collected my bag, turned in the test and walked out the door.

_~ Back home ~_

Back at the house, Mick was doing dips while Amber counted in French (I echoed a bit subconsciously), Alfie and Jerome wrestled and Mara set the table. I sat on the couch and read 07-Ghost. All of a sudden, Patricia said "Don't you do anything but work?" meanly at me, though I had no idea why.

"Yeah, because reading manga is so hard to do. And what, we're at a school." I remarked. She rolled her eyes.

"Patricia, just get a life." Fabian said. I jumped and spun around to see him.

"When did you get here?!" I cried out. "You gave me a heart attack!"

"Mary Ann, have you got a minute?" he whispered.

"I've got a life which consists of years which consists of months which consists of weeks which consists of days-" he gave me a look "- which consists of hours which of minutes. So yeah, I've got a minute." I smirked and we left the room.

"Look at the banisters," Fabian said. "Look at the shape that's cut into them. I always thought it was some kind of weird abstract design but it's not it's –"

"The eye of Horus!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, the same as on your locket, the same we found in the attic. I did a bit of research about this place and it turns out the Frobisher-Smythes had a bit of thing for Egypt."

"Which would explain the Egyptian God name of the house!"

"And the hieroglyphics on the painting in the attic, I bet those are the people who hid the cylinders."

"Why would someone hid something in their own house though. That's totally bonkers."

"I don't know, but there's only one way to find out."

"Torture it out of Victor?" I suggested as a joke. He rolled his eyes. "Time to listen to some cylinders."

_~ TIME WARP to the night ~_

Making sure Amber had fallen asleep, I snuck out the room to see Fabian already there. I gestured him to the attic door. "How are we going to get in?" he asked. I waved a hairpin at him and he just chuckled.

Pick, pick, pick. The lock was picked and we were in business. Treading up the stairs, I could feel my heart pounding. We took out the phonograph and the cylinders. Fabian did something and then stopped. "Now what?"

"We turn this." He tapped a handle. I nodded. And he turned.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" it screamed. Fabian stopped.

"Bloody hell." I muttered.

"What was that?" Fabian breathed.

"I dunno, but it was seriously scary! Like the cylinder was dying painfully…" I said morbidly.

"That's very descriptive… But hey, it looks like this one's blank."

"Maybe that's why it made such a noise? Try this one." I handed him another one. "Wind it faster this time."

He switched the cylinders. He only winded it once when the screeching began anew. "Turn it off!" I panicked.

"How? I dunno! I've only used MP3s!" Without thinking, I yanked the bell off and it silenced. We both sighed.

"Victor's coming!' I discovered. "No doubt he heard that!"

"Hide behind the panel!" We moved the phonograph back and took the cylinders. Rushing, I opened and closed the panel. We sat there, breathing heavily. I tried to slow my breathing with much success. I could hear Victor's footsteps enter the attic. They came closer and closer and closer…

Then they grew farther and farther until they stopped. Fabian started to get up when I pulled him back down. I shook my head. I listened very hard for the attic door to close. I shivered, more from nerves than from coldness.

Fabian must have seen me shiver because he took off his robe and gave it to me. "Thank you." I mouthed.

After a few moments of silence, we left the panel and went down to the dorm rooms. "Coast is clear." Fabian said as we exited the attic. I closed the door and locked it with my hairpin. We scurried to my dorm door.

"Omigod…" I breathed. "My heart's still pounding."

Fabian was laughing, "Mine too."

"I don't think I can ever sleep again because of that." I shrugged off his robe and passed it back to him. "The screams…" I shuddered.

"Same."

"I can't believe we got away with it!" I took a deep breath. "G'night."

"Night." I then slipped into my room.

"Can't believe you got away with what?" Amber asked. Dammit, she was awake!

"What-Nothing-Why would there be something!?" I stammered in a panic, sitting cross-legged on my bed.

"You've been sneaking around with Fabian in the middle of the night, your heart's beating really fast and you think you got away with something… Oh!" Oh no, she figured it out! We're doomed! "You were having a secret date!" she cheered, sitting on my bed.

… Huh?

"No!"

"This is so exciting. Me, you, Mick, Fabian, double dates, I can see it already! I can't wait to tell everyone…"

"No! You tell no one! Absolutely no one! Promise?" I said quickly.

"Oh I see. Secret love. So romantic. Your secret's safe with me." And then she flew to her bed before I could answer. I turned off my lights and swore silently. So much for sneaking around quietly.

_~ The next morning, at school ~_

I was putting my books away into my locker when Fabian came up to me. "Hey Mary Ann. Uh… hey. The thing is, um, me and you, we've know each other for a couple of weeks now. Th-The thing is… Amber." He concluded.

"I told her not to blab!" I said, mortified. "She got me coming in and assumed that we were on a 'secret date' and I can't say we're searching for treasure, so I let her go with her theory. Sorry. I mean, you and me? We're friends. It'd be kinda awkward." I said quickly.

"Yeah, yeah. No, totally." After an awkward silence, he left. I sighed and leaned my head on the locker door. Did I just insult the one person nice to me? Yes, yes I did.

_~ Into Drama class! ~_

After I paired up with Amber, Mr. Winkler started the lesson. "Three little words. 'I love you.' See? It's not what you say, it's how you say it. In your pairs I want you to tell a story, but you can only do it by having a conversation with the three words, I love you. Okay?"

"Okay, I got a story." I said to Amber. "A married couple that don't get along, making amends. Want to do that?"

"Sure. Who will be the husband?" she asked.

"I will." I coughed and settled into a gruff voice. "I love you?" I asked, as if to say 'Ready?'

"I love you." She nodded, giggling at the ridiculousness of my voice. 'Ready.'

"I love you!" I roared angrily. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

"I looooove you." She said angrily back.

"I love you." I said, throwing my hands up into the air and turning my back.

"I love you." She said desperately, taking my shoulder and turning me around. "I love you."

"I love you." I said, as if in agreement. We embraced in a hug and ended the scene. "That was awesome!" I declared.

"Di-Did anyone see that?" Patricia asked loudly. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her. She was staring out the window, with a pale and frightened look on her face.

"See what?" Mr. Winkler asked.

"That man. He was staring at me." Everyone crowded around the window, but there was no one. "I saw him. I did." But everyone had left to do whatever.

After classes ended, I rushed to a stall in the girl's bathroom and took out the book from the attic and the jeweled case. "God, what is up with this case?" I whispered inaudibly. When I couldn't find anything, I said "What are you hiding?"

"What are you hiding?" Amber suddenly said. She peered from the stall next door and snapped a picture with her phone. "Tell me or I'll got to Mr. Sweet and tell him you're doing something weird and I don't know what it is. Or something."

"What the hell? Where's the privacy of the bathroom stalls?" I yelled. But seeing no way out of explaining, I sighed. "I'll tell you, just not here. And you tell no one."

"I'll take it to the grave." She vowed. "I never tell a secret."

We walked back to the house after school ended and I explained everything. Sarah, the locket, the trips to the attic. When I finished I ran from her. I had to inform Fabian before she babbled to him herself.

"I can't believe you told Amber." He said. "She has a mouth the size of a black hole."

"I know, I know. But she was blackmailing me. I should I have fed her lies, I know, I'm an idiot…" I rubbed my forehead.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't say that." He countered. "Everything will be fine. I'm sure."

"Okay, if you're sure. See you tonight, we'll test the cylinders again."

_~ Midnight ~_

I snuck out of bed. Amber was fast asleep by now. I put on some slippers and slipped on my bag. Out the door I went. As he usually was, Fabian was right outside the door waiting for me. We snuck across the hall and I picked the lock. Fabian took out the phonograph and I handed him a cylinder. We were just about to turn it on when…

"Thank goodness you're both here. I thought I was going to be eaten by a ghost." Amber declared loudly. I jumped. I almost didn't see Amber, but a man dressed in black.

"Holy Mother Of Cheese, Amber what are you doing?" I whispered angrily, "And be quiet! …And what's with the heels?" Sure enough, Amber thought she was prepared. She had cloves and cloves of garlic in one hand and around her neck, and in the other hand a pair of cherry red heels.

"I didn't want to miss out on anything. And these are my lucky heels." She answered.

"Why aren't you wearing them?" Fabian whispered.

"I can't actually run away in them." She replied, like it was obvious.

"Amber, what's with the cloves of garlic, this isn't Twilight!" he whispered again. I stifled a giggle.

"The Bible says 'always be prepared'." She said, as if to say 'duh'.

"Amber, that's the Boy Scouts." I couldn't help it, I started to laugh.

"Okay, you two. Let's get to business." I said. Amber sat next to us. "What if it moans again?"

"Don't worry, this should do the trick." He showed us a red piece of something. "But if it doesn't, get ready to pull the horn off." He put the red thing into the horn and started to turn the handle.

There was no scream. Only a little girl's voice. "Mother and Father have given the house a name. Anubis."

"It's a girl." I said.

"They're going away again," the girl continued. "To Egypt I think. Father says he has to for his work. But when they go, I'll be on my own again. With _him_." The girl sniffled.

"Why is she crying?" Amber asked. "It's so…"

"Sad." I finished.

"I don't want to stay here," the girl on the recording continued, "I'm frightened of what might happen to me."

"I don't want to stay here either." Amber said, standing up, "Can we go please?"

"No-" But it was too late. Amber had knocked something over and it made a loud clang.

"Right, this is getting far to risky. I vote we get out of here and find a safer way to listen to these things." Fabian said as he put the phonograph away. "And Amber, quietly." We started our way down the stair. Amber was out the door when suddenly she shut us both in.

"Wha-" I was cut off.

"What are you doing?" Victor's voice asked. "You know you're not supposed to be sneaking around after lights out."

Amber apparently decided to play the sleepwalker. "Hello Trudy, ice cream, brownies, yum, yum." She said sleepily.

"Hmmm, yes. But unlike you Miss Millington, I was not born yesterday. Now what are you doing?" Well that's rude.

"I'm starving and I don't care about your stupid rules. I'm on a fridge raid!" And with that Amber sped off, Victor tailing behind her angrily. When they're footsteps faded I opened the door, laughing.

"Impressive." Fabian noted.

"She's just full of surprises. Maybe we can trust her after all." I locked the door and said goodnight.

Amber came in a few minutes later with a toothbrush in hand, but a smile etched on her face nonetheless.


	5. Teams

_Here's an exciting new installment of Mysteries of Anubis! I'm going to a friend's house for the weekend, so I couldn't update tomorrow. So you get the awesomeness of having it today! Enjoy!_

**CHAPTER FIVE HOUSE OF SCREAMS**

**"Get in the closet!" the man yelled harshly at me. A gun pressed into my back. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I could see Mommy and Daddy by some other men.**

**"Little bitch." He cursed. With one hand, he opened the closet door. I could see all the bright-colored jackets, all the memories in each pocket. With the same hand, he shoved me in. I yelped. The door slammed shut.**

**"MOMMY!" I screamed. "DADDY!"**

A scream rang out. My eyes shot open. My heart pounded. I'm not in the closet. I'm in my room in England. Amber shot out of bed.

"What was that?" Amber asked. I got out of bed and we went into the hall. The boys and Victor came in, oddly quick. Trudy came rushing to the scream, which came from Patricia and Mara's room.

Patricia seemed to have a mysterious visit from the man she saw during Drama. She seemed totally freaked out. Everyone was in the dorm and comforting her. Victor left to check the locks on the doors. I stood by the bed in silence. Who was the man? And why was he targeting Patricia?

By the time I was in school, I was no closer to anything. Sitting class I doodled in my notebook.

"Hey, Mary, I've got something that will help us find treasure." Amber said quickly, sitting next to me.

_"hey Mary, sitting all alone again?" "hey Mary I bet you killed the janitor's cat didn't you? Just like your mom and dad, huh?" "silly girl, running into the closet like the coward she is."_

"Do not call me Mary." I growled. I blinked when I realized I was with Amber. "Sorry." I rubbed my temple. "But don't."

"OK, but ta-da!" She waved an MP3 in my face.

"An MP3 player?" I said skeptically.

"A state-of-the-art MP3 player that also works as a digital recorder. My dad thought I might use it for homework revision. Like that would happen." She rolled her eyes.

"I still don't get how it helps." I told her.

"You are so slow, Mary Ann. We can record all that stuff on the pharycles onto it."

"Cylinders."

"That's what I said. Now we don't have to go up to the creepy attic every 5 minutes."

"Nice one Amber. You're a genius!"

"What was that Mary Ann, YOU THINK I'M A GENIUS?" she yelled to the class.

"Not if you do that." I pulled her back. "Quiet."

"I think the bling is behind another secret panel, like in the attic. What do you think?"

"Maybe, but we'll talk later in private. Okay?" She nodded and Mrs. Andrews came in.

"Good morning class." She said.

"Good morning Mrs. Andrews." We replied boredly.

"I have your French tests to hand back." She said. When I got mine, I saw a simple A-. I shrugged. My gran wanted me to learn French when I was younger for my mom so it was almost like a second language. Almost, but not quite.

Classes passed quickly and in no time I was back at the house.

"Amber, what are you doing?" I asked as she scuffled around the room.

"Searching for you-know-what." She replied.

"Well, do it somewhere else, please?" She nodded.

After dinner Amber was knocking on the walls in our room. "Amber, you're not going to find much." I said. She ignored me and pushed a table back. Tapping, she must have found something because she said "Mary Ann, look!" I looked up from my book and saw her next to some peeled off wallpaper. HELP ME! SARAH FROBISHER-SMYTHE and some tally marks decorated the inner wall.

"Whoa!" I said, joining her on the floor. "Way to make me eat my words! Good job!"

"Frobisher-Smythe is that miserable looking couple in the painting in the living room, aren't they? Sarah must be their daughter…"

"And Emily from the retirement home, she calls herself Sarah!"

"No way, Sarah Frobisher-Smythe is still alive? Let's go talk to her, she might know something!"

"Not a good idea. She's not exactly right minded…"

"Oh, sad."

"She said there was evil in this house. That it was a dark house."

"Poor Sarah. What do you think she was afraid of?"

"I have no idea… But we'll find out somehow."

Later that night, Amber, Fabian and I snuck back up to the attic to record the cylinders.

"Mother and Father have given the house a name. Anubis. I think it's Egyptian." The girl said.

"Mary Ann, can you tell me a story about something nice, please?" Amber interrupted.

"OK, Amber? These are the rules. We sit and record every single cylinder in silence. Even though it's fuzzy we need total silence to clear it later. OK?" Amber agreed.

"I wish my parents would come back. Sometimes I see their faces in the mirror, but I know they're not there. And I know it wasn't an accident. He did it. He murdered them." I gasped silently. Murdered?

_~ Time Warp ~_

Before I realized it, I was back in class. But it wasn't exactly class, we ended up with a free period due to some classroom mix-ups. I was thinking of calling Gran's doctor, but then I thought that if there was any news, they would have called already.

"I'm seeing Sarah. If she's the girl in the recordings, maybe she can name the murderer." I told Fabian. "We could solve a case that went cold years ago."

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.

"I do, but remember last time? I'll go alone this time for her sake."

"Yeah, maybe I can get a crack at this, it's driving me mad." He handed me the jeweled case for a moment. Then came Amber.

"What are you two whispering about?" she asked. "Where are you going?"

I could see Mick coming, so I replied "Nowhere" and nodded in his direction.

Thankfully she caught my drift and went along with it. Distracting Mick with a playlist, I told her I was going to visit Sarah.

"Excuse me, you're going on a fact-finding trip and didn't invite me? Give me two sec. while I fix my face." Rejecting Mick's trip-to-town offer, she told me "do not go without me" and disappeared. Mick left, confused.

"If Sarah's afraid of me, wait until she meets Amber." Fabian joked.

_~ At the home ~_

In no time at all, we were at Sarah's bedside. She was asleep and resting. "When you said old, I didn't think you meant old, old." Amber complained.

"I said nothing of the sort." I shrugged.

"Well that's no excuse for those hands."

"Amber." I moaned. She took out her make-up kit and started rubbing moisturizer on Sarah's wrinkly hands. Sarah smiled.

"See, she likes it! This is moisturizer it's really good for your skin. It'll make you look younger. Well I don't know about younger it's not miracle cream-"

"Lets," I interrupted, "stop that conversation. Sarah, do you recognize me?"

Sarah was awake now and she looked at me. "The one with the power." She replied.

"What does that mean?" Amber muttered. I shushed her.

"It's me, Mary Ann." I said. Sarah seemed to excite.

"Have you found it?" she asked.

"Not just yet." I replied, "But we found recordings of a little girl. Is that you, Sarah?"

"Rock a-bye baby, on the tree top," Sarah began to mutter.

"Are you the girl in the recording?" I asked again.

"Look, she's sleeping." Sarah pointed to another part of the room.

"The girl mentioned murder, Sarah." I said.

"Oh, the man who kills." Sarah said, "He wants to stay forever. He wants to tip the scales of life."

"Who, Sarah? Who is this man?"

"Sometimes I see their faces in the mirror," Sarah said as she looked into the bedside mirror. "But I know they're not there."

"That's a saying from the girl." I stated. "You really are Sarah from the recording!"

"My mummy's dead!" Sarah moaned sadly.

_Mine is too_, I wanted to say. "What happened to them, Sarah?" I asked, but she had fallen asleep. "Looks like we're done for the day, Amber." Amber packed her bag and we headed back to the school. We found Fabian in the lounge-room-whatever. Amber plopped down next to him and I sat in a chair on the other side of Amber.

"Right," Amber said, "Creepy little girl Sarah says 'sometimes I see them in the mirror'. Crazy old lady Sarah just said the same thing. Coincidence? I think not."

"Sarah's obviously the girl in the recordings." I said.

"What about the murder?" Fabian asked.

"We lost her by that part. Living forever and tipping scales-" I started.

"So I've had a really important idea. We are the only three students in Creepy House who know all about this. We're a gang-club-posse-whatever. I think we should make it official. Sibuna." Amber interrupted, placed her right hand in front her right eye.

"Sibuna?"

"Anubis, spelled backwards. See what I did there? I'm a bit of a genius. So what do you say?" Amber said.

"Does that mean we make an Unbreakable Vow not to tell a soul about this?" I asked. Amber said yes. "I'm in! But no vandalizing or eating snakes or anything."

"And tonight we make it official." Amber said. I grinned.

_~ After school ~_

That night we met up by a burned out tree. There, Amber set up a fire in an old trashcan.

"Oh ancient gods of Anubis House, we pledge ourselves to your secrets and your quest. We are the Sibuna Club." Amber called out. "And we make these sacrifices as our pledge." She took out two books. One was a science book and another was my children's book.

"Hell no! I am not sacrificing this!" I snatched my book away from her. "I can't…"

"This is my signed copy of _The Solar System Is Your Friend._" Fabian, snatching his book as well.

"OK, even though these things are really dumb to me, they're really mean something to you. It has to be a sacrifice." Amber explained.

"But there's no way I'd forgive myself if this was damaged. It's not even mine, it's my father's! You can have…" I rummaged through my bag for something else when I found my lucky bracelet. "this. My lucky bracelet. It's still a somewhat big sacrifice for me." I took a deep breath and dropped the bracelet in the fire. Amber dropped a picture of herself and Fabian ended up dropping the book when he couldn't find anything to replace it with.

"I, Mary Ann Norton, being of anti-sound mind, promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House and stand by my fellow club members Amber Millington and Fabian Rutter." I pledged. The others did the same.

"I, Fabian Rutter, being of sound mind, promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House and stand by my fellow club members Amber Millington and Mary Ann Norton."

"I, Amber Millington, being of sounds and minds, promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House and stand by my fellow club members Mary Ann Norton and Fabian Rutter."

"These are our sacred vows," I said, "Let no man, or woman, tear them asunder. Sibuna." I placed my right hand in front of my right eye. The other two did the same.

Thunder crackled overhead. "Ooh, that's bad. Let's head out!" I said.

Amber sighed. "And of course I had just done my hair."

We just began to walk when the jeweled case flew out of Fabian's bag. I ran to pick it up. "Any luck?" I asked.

"No. I've tried every single possible combination." Just as he said the words, I pulled part of the case off. "Except that one, obviously."

Pulling out the other two parts of the three, we put them together to form a clue! "When daytime ends at midday through the tears of glass the eye shall see." I read. "Well that's gibberish to me. What could it possibly mean?"


	6. Confrontations

_Hey, Internet! It's finally Tuesday. School was boring, but I was excited to bring this new chapter. Enjoy!_

**CHAPTER SIX HOUSE OF CONFRONTATIONS**

"OK, when daytime ends at midday, through the tears of glass the eye shall see." Fabian repeated the next morning.

"Is that on the Shakespeare test?" Amber asked.

"It's the clue." Fabian reminded her.

"Oh right! I don't get it, do you? And what is on the Shakespeare test?"

I repeated the clue. "We need to figure it out, so lunch time, yeah?"

"Sibuna." We all said.

"Why can't there be a map or something that's what there usually is when your looking for treasure." Amber complained.

"What treasure?" Mick asked, entering the kitchen.

"Oh, nothing." I said quickly, "Just trying to find my earrings."

"Right… Uh, hi Amber. I, um, ta da!" he presented a narrow box to her.

"Oh it's lovely, thank you!" Amber gushed, not even opening the box.

"And I thought, maybe, you and I could hang out this lunchtime seeing as you ditched me yesterday." Mick offered.

"Ah, yeah, thing is… that might be a problem…" Amber said, seeing us shake our heads slightly.

"Fine. Whatever. I know when I'm not wanted." He turned to leave but doubled back to give Amber the gift.

"Why is he so cranky?" Amber asked, but Fabian and I had no clue.

_~ At school ~_

"OK, midday is 12 o'clock or noon. It could be code but we'll stick with noon. When daytime ends…. Apocalypse?" I guessed.

"No, that's the end of the world." Fabian corrected me. "Not the end of the day. Think, where does the sun go down at midday, ever?"

"Scandinavia?"

"No, they have midday dawns but not midday sunsets." He frowned as he stared at the computer.

"I know!" Amber cried, "In cartoons!"

"Hey, what about this?" Fabian said, I looked over his shoulder as he read aloud. "Partial eclipse, midday sunsets."

"Nice one! You got it!" I cheered.

"Got what?" Jerome asked as he entered the room with a skeleton.

"Looks, brains, charms. You know, all those things you don't have, Jerome." Fabian remarked. I giggled silently and went back to reading.

Jerome cleared his throat. "Your girlfriend was missing you, Rutter." Alfie waved the skeleton's arm while saying hi in a high-pitched voice. Jerome laughed. "Kiss me, kiss me darling."

"He's male." I said, without looking up from my book.

"Ha-ha, what?" Jerome said.

"That's not a girlfriend. The pelvic bone isn't wide enough. That's a BOYfriend." I said, still reading. I placed a hand on Fabian's shoulder. "Best taste in the whole school, mate."

"Well, as stimulating as your long conversation might be to each other, I find it rather dull. So we're going to kick up a storm somewhere else." Jerome said nervously, and then they walked out of the room. I laughed.

"It was seriously a male skeleton?" Amber asked.

"Nope. Obviously female. But still, if it was a guy, Fabian picked the best looking boy in the school." I winked.

"This is ridiculous. There were 242 solar eclipses between 1801 and the 1900s but who knows how many between 1901 and 1923?" Fabian said.

"Why don't we ask Sarah?" Amber suggested.

"She isn't exactly talkative, Amber." I reminded.

"Duh, not Sarah." She picked up her MP3. "Sarah. You never know, she might mention something. Not just beauty and sophistication, I've got smarts too. Tons of them."

We hooked up Amber's MP3 to Fabian's computer. "What are those squiggles? It's like a heart machine." Amber asked.

"These are sounds translated into digital picture. So this part is really loud and these bits are really quiet and this music software is clearing up the interference."

"So where do we start, Mr. Charms And All That?" I asked.

He exhaled. "At the beginning." And clicked the computer.

"Sometimes he says things in the hopes that I'll react, but I don't." Sarah said, "Instead, I think of Mother and Father and—"

"I took myself up into the attic." A crazy voice replaced Sarah's. "And there was a MASSIVE surprise!"

"What is that?" Amber asked.

"The lady of the house, locked away with a total nut-jobber!" There was laughter, two males by the sound of it.

"Alfie and Jerome!" Fabian cried out. "Well this explains their hasty exit earlier."

"Ugh, back to the attic." I moaned, hitting my head on Fabian's shoulder. "I am so giving them hell. And they might know something."

"Then again, this is Alfie and Jerome we're talking about." Fabian replied. I just groaned and stormed to class.

_~ After Classes ~_

Classes went by quickly as I was too angry to focus. When we got back to the house I ran into the living room and kicked both Jerome and Alfie in the shins. Amber later came in to slap them both on the arm.

"THAT is for going through my stuff and THAT is for recording over my files." She slapped Jerome again.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"Just for fun." She replied angelically.

"What did you understand, and how much did you hear?" I asked.

"Well if you must know we only heard that one bit and you by the way have really weird taste in recorded books, Millington." Jerome said. I shared a smile with Fabian.

Then Mick came in the room. "Hi Boo." Amber cheered. Then her face fell. "I'm so sorry. Something came up—"

"We're done, Amber!" He interrupted. "And I hate it when you call me Boo!" He stormed away, leaving Amber breathless.

"Did he just dump me?" Amber asked.

"You bet he did." Jerome laughed. I glared at him and wrapped an arm around the sorry girl.

"Mary Ann, what do I do?" she asked.

"Raid the fridge, marathons of chick flicks, whatever you do, don't go after him. If a guy has the nerve to dump you, he's ain't worth it." I said.

"What's the point, he already made his feelings pretty clear. In front of everyone." She said, on the verge of tears.

"Come, little lamb, we shall eat the ice cream." I said, leading her to the kitchen.

_~ TIME WARP ~_

"Mother and Father have given the house a name. Anubis. I think it's Egyptian. They're going away again soon. To Egypt I think. Father says he—"

"It's just… I love him, Mary Ann." Amber said. "I really love him." I rubbed her shoulder and she leaned her head on mine. "And I messed it all up. And now I'm messing up the recording."

"It's okay… It's okay. We can record it again later." I assured her. "it'll be alright."

"That's pretty." Amber said. I looked to see a stained glass. "What is it?"

"The sunset…" I smiled.

"When daytime ends." Fabian said. "Sunset. At midday! That's when it happens! Yes, you are brilliant!"

"Mick doesn't know what he's missing." I assured her with a smile.

_~ TIME WARP ~_

For Perspective Parents' Day, Fabian and I were in charge of making treats. Was this my academic strength? We helped Trudy in the kitchen make cookies and muffins. I even taught them a chocolate chip banana muffin recipe from an American kid's TV show.

"Well don't you look dashing in an apron." I joked as I tied my auburn hair into a ponytail. Fabian blushed and tried to open one of the ovens.

"No, no." Trudy said. "You'll have to use the other one instead. That one has been stuck for as long as anyone can remember. Victor tried to get it open, but it just doesn't work. It's odd, I know. Must be design fault. Shame, really. With Mick's appetite, I could do with an extra oven."

"What was the house like before, Trudy?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm sure it was pretty much the same as it is now." She replied. "Do you know, I think I've got some photos somewhere." We followed her into the living room. "I know that the hallway was much grander than it is now. Ah! Here we are." She handed one to me. "I think we still got that chandelier somewhere." In the photo is was a picture of the stairs, except the chandelier was different and more elaborate. It just reminded me of…

"Tears of glass." I whispered to Fabian.

After a short argument, we managed to persuade Trudy into hanging the old chandelier back in the hall.

"Why have you two suddenly become so interested in home restoration?" Trudy asked.

"Well, it's about heritage, Trudy. This is part of the house's history and we respect that." Fabian said.

"And the houses in America certainly don't have a history like this." I said.

"Do you smell something burning?" Trudy asked. Then it hit her. "The cakes!" She then scampered back to the kitchen.

"OK, one of us stays here and the other goes to the attic." I said. "We dunno if it's the right chandelier."

"We don't have much time." Fabian said, showing me his watch. We agreed for Fabian to go to the attic and I'll stay downstairs. Noon fast approaching, I stared up at the chandelier, more bored than ever.

But then there was a miracle. The chandelier was literally glowing. Glowing with a green light. Then a ray of glowing light reached forward and to a panel in the wall. I pulled out the locket and pressed it to where the light hit the wall, and the panel opened slightly. Inside was an odd-figured thing. It was vase-like with a glass orb in the top. I smiled. Success!

_~ TIME WARP... AGAIN ~_

Sibuna met up in the attic, the recording playing as the background music. "What was it like when the chandelier opened the panel?" Fabian asked, holding the newly found piece.

"Amazing, gorgeous, just… unimaginable." I smiled. "Do you think there might be something in it?" He shrugged.

"He frightens me. He spends a lot of time down in the cellar with dead animals. Dead animals that he stuffs. But what frightens me most is his raven, Corbiere." Sarah said in the recording.

"What did she just say?" Amber asked.

"I'm more convinced as ever that he's the cause of the deaths of my parents. But I can't prove anything. He's coming!" Sarah continued. Then a new voice came onto the recording.

"You have five minutes, then I want to be able to hear a pin drop."

It was unmistakable. But… impossible. It couldn't possibly be…

"Victor?"


	7. Secrets

_Welcome to chapter seven! Finally, an update on Mary Ann's grandmother. Please enjoy, and know that reviews are welcomed! Thanks to all who have Favorited or Followed this story._

**CHAPTER SEVEN HOUSE OF SECRETS**

"Since when did you and Amber suddenly become best buddies?" Patricia asked when I reentered the bathroom. I had come to pick up my robe I had left.

"We're roomies. Worked out better than you and I did. Can you interrogate my crimes tomorrow? Victor will be on the prowl soon." I replied. I picked up my bathrobe but the locket slipped out, hitting the floor with a clank.

"Where did you get this?" Patricia asked, picking it up.

I took it by the chain, said "A friend of mine gave it to me" and walked out the door. I walked into my room to see Amber already in bed. "Lights out." She told me.

"Lights out."

… Beep, beep, beep!

I woke up, heart pounding. I sighed by the surprise of my alarm clock, slammed it off, and rolled out of bed. "Wake up, Amber, or the bathroom will be taken." I moaned sleepily. I eventually got her out of bed and we walked across the hall.

"Oh, I forgot my toothpaste." Amber moaned.

"You can borrow mine." I offered. She shook her head and left the room. It should have only taken her a second, but a minute later she still hadn't come back. I walked across the hall and entered our room, seeing her with Patricia.

"Yo, what's going on?" I asked. They both seemed surprised by my appearance.

"Hi, well, thanks for that Amber. Catch you later, yeah?" Patricia said. She didn't wait for Amber to reply before she swiftly left the room.

"You OK?" I asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost." I laughed, but she shook her head. "General idea, right? It would be so cool to actually see one. C'mon, let's get ready for school."

Next thing I knew, breakfast had gone by and I was sitting in French, working on some homework.

"Mr. Rutter, listening to music whilst you're supposed to be studying shows very little respect to me." Mrs. Andrews said. Oh no! Fabian was listening to Amber's MP3, the one with Sarah's recording on it!

"I'm really sorry, Miss, it just helps me to, ah, think." Fabian lied.

"You know the rules. MP3s are not allowed in class." Fabian hesitantly handed over the MP3, asking when he would get it back. "When I'm ready." She said, and she walked back to her desk.

"Nice one, Fabian." Amber mouthed. I placed a hand on my temple.

_~ After school ~_

"Need any help with that?" Fabian asked as he sat next to me on my bed. Classes had ended for the day and Sibuna had met up in Amber and my room.

"Still nothing. I think this orb thing moves or comes off." I said, showing him the recently recovered puzzle piece. "Want to take a crack at it? Maybe a boy can do it."

"Don't give it to Fabian then." Amber snickered. Just as she said so, Fabian pulled off the orb on top of the piece. This time I snickered.

"Is there anything inside?" I asked. He pulled out a roll of paper and unraveled it.

"_Cet is the place to find, and there in the flames you must look behind_." He read aloud. I frowned. What the hell does that mean?

"Even I have no idea." Amber said. I rolled my eyes and stared at the clue.

"Do you think it might be Egyptian?" I asked.

"This is the Frobisher-Symthes we're talking about. Probably, yes." Fabian replied.

"Then we can search through some of the books for a description of the word." I offered.

"Good idea. But I'm going to go see if I can get back the MP3 player. Good luck with your search." Fabian said. He then left.

"Let's go find some books." I told Amber. The search didn't take long, as per usual. Turned out lots of books in the house had something to do with Egypt. Amber and I sat on a couch and flipped through some of our find.

"Cet… Cet…" I murmured.

"Got it!" Amber said, "Cet means fire or place of fire."

Place of fire! The fireplace! "And what is it if you reverse the order?"

"Fire of place." She answered. I sighed.

"Seriously?" I asked. She nodded. I stood up and walked next to the fireplace. "Describe something to my right." I told her.

"The fireplace." She said. A pause later. "Oh, of course a fireplace!" Amber began to tap on it while I searched for a way to get behind it. No such luck…

"What are you doing?' Victor asked, entering the room. "Why are you fooling around with the fireplace?"

"I had lost something." I lied. "I just thought it had slipped into the fireplace."

"I don't like you snooping around the house. Chandeliers, fireplaces." He said.

"We'll take the chandelier down, as soon as Fabian returns—"

"No. You will leave it up there."

"But I thought you said—"

"Yes I did but I have changed my mind. Now, I want you all in bed early tonight. Lights out, 9 o'clock, and I shall expect to hear a pin drop after that. Tell the others. No buts." And on that note, he strode out of the room.

"That was creepy!" I said. "He didn't sound scary or strict or angry. He sounded… kind of relaxed and hushed. I wonder what he has in store for later…"

We returned to our rooms and then Amber spilled. She couldn't hold it in much longer, apparently, and began to blabber that Patricia was snooping around my things and about to take the locket this morning.

"OK. I'm going to talk to her." I said. I walked down the hall, wondering why on earth Patricia needed my locket. "Hey…" I said as I entered her room. "I thought we were starting to get along for once."

"We are." She replied.

"So snooping around and attempting to steal is getting along? I can't wait to see what'll happen when we're best friends."

"I knew it. Amber!" she said angrily.

"You can't blame her. She would have told me anyways. You would have done the same if someone was going through Mara's stuff."

"I wasn't stealing." She said.

"Then what were you doing?" I asked.

"You're so secretive, do you know that?"

"Everyone's entitled to their secrets, Patricia. But this involves me, and I want to know why you would need my locket."

"Haven't you seen the time?" Victor asked, walking in the doorway. Great timing, Victor, you'd be perfect on the drums. "I told you I want everyone in bed early tonight now go to your room immediately."

"Nightie night." Patricia said sweetly. I glared at her and left. Victor was walking right behind me but then "changed his mind."

"Go tell everyone downstairs to get to bed." He instructed.

"Yes sir." I replied, and escaped downstairs. "Vicky's coming and it ain't pretty." I sang, entering the living room. Jerome, Alfie and Amber were there.

"Well, time to make a quick exit!" Alfie said, and he and Jerome left swiftly.

Fabian then came in. "What is going on? I was just at the school and the teachers were acting really weird. And as so as I get back, Victor bites my head off and send me to my room. But I told him I had to give you this first." He dug around in his pocket and took out the MP3!

"Oh! You got it!" Amber said happily.

"Oh no, do you think she heard anything?" I asked.

Fabian shook his head. "Close, but no."

"It's nine o'clock!" Victor's voice called from upstairs. "You have five minutes, and then I want to be able to hear a pin drop!" I rolled my eyes. We went to our rooms.

_~ Morning ~_

"If you could change your name to anything else, what would it be?" I asked Fabian. Having already finished breakfast, we sat on the couch and conversed.

"I haven't really thought of it… Maybe something simple, like Brad." He replied. "You?"

"Maybe Nina, or Nathalia." I said.

Behind us came a scream. I spun around to see Amber dripping wet and angry Patricia holding the water pitcher.

"I asked you to keep a secret!" Patricia hissed. Then to the rest of the room, "She's known me since we were eleven, but now she's siding with someone who's only been here two minutes!"

Mara came walking in at the end of her rant. "Patricia!" she exclaimed, looking between her and wet Amber. "What's going on?"

"Betrayal, that's what." Patricia said.

"Don't go through people's private things here," Amber argued. "It's like an unwritten rule!"

"I'm pretty sure it's a written rule." I added. Kind of ironic, since we're snooping through the house.

Patricia grimaced, splashed Amber with leftover water in the pitcher, and stormed out of the room. But not before saying "Some friend you are" to Amber.

Amber sniffed, tears brimming her eyes.

"Come on, Ambs." I said, taking her by the arm. "Let's get you some dry clothes…"

"What is her problem?" Amber cried.

_~ After school ~_

After changing into some jeans and an old T-shirt, I followed Amber and Fabian into the living room.

"Nobody. Not one body." Amber noted as we walked in.

"Let's do this." Fabian said. We went to the fireplace and started looking around in it. But we couldn't find anything. I leaned back, but I accidentally hit my head with Fabian's in the process.

"Oh, ow, sorry." I said.

"Sorry." Fabian said while laughing. I started to laugh.

"I'm going to need to visit the hospital, after hitting your hard head!" I joked. We laughed even more. We made eye contact and suddenly everything went quiet. I never noticed how lovely his eyes were…

"Hey Romeo and Juliet," Amber said, shaking out of my daydream.

"Um, yeah, moving swiftly on." Fabian said quickly, his cheeks turning red.

"There's nothing there." I concluded. "Maybe we did something wrong?"

"Maybe we've misread the riddle?" Fabian suggested.

"Hmm… Or maybe it isn't this fireplace. Lots of places have fire."

"Of course! The house has central heating now." Fabian said. "I bet loads of these fireplaces were bricked up when it was fixed."

"We just need to find out where they are." Amber said. We looked at each other. That could take ages.

I clenched my locket. "Maybe we should visit Sarah…" They smiled at me.

"Let's go now." Amber said.

When we got to the home, I said, "I hope we get her in a good moment. She could send us after a fireplace from who knows when." Amber giggled and I opened the door to her room.

"Sarah." A man said. I quickly closed the door. She had other visitors? "Sarah, do you remember me?"

"Sarah has other guests?" I questioned. "I've never seen her with other people before."

I opened the door just a peek to listen. Sorry Sarah!

"I remember your face…" Sarah said.

"That's good." The man said. He sounded so nice…

Sarah sounded like she was going to cry. "But… I get so muddled…"

"Sarah, just relax." The man said. "Everything's all right. I'll get you some tea."

I moved away from the door, and we scooted over to a shelf. The man came out of the room and we pretended to converse about a tea cup I picked up. The man wore a leather jacket and all black clothes. He had brown hair.

"Who is that?" Amber asked.

"I don't know. I have absolutely no idea."

_~ Later that evening ~_

Everyone ate dinner in silence. It was very awkward.

"Pass the juice please, Mara." Patricia asked from the other side of the table. No one reacted to her. She got up, walked to the juice, and took it back with her.

"Well," Trudy noticed, "Aren't we quiet tonight."

"No kidding." Patricia replied. "So, what's with the silent treatment?"

No one answered her. I suddenly realized that when everyone was mad at me because of Joy, and no one told me, it was worse than when I had to suffer through it. I wasn't going to be like that.

"You were a bitch to Amber." I said.

She looked at me, then to Mara. "And what do you think, Mara?" What, is my opinion not enough?

"You went too far, plus I was on clean up duty." Mara said.

There was a moment of silence before Patricia spoke up again. "You know what? You're totally right."

"Whoa…" Alfie stared at Patricia weirdly.

"I'm sorry, Amber." Patricia said.

"Falls of his/her chair in amazement." Alfie and I said, both us of falling out of our chairs. I was sitting in between Fabian and Amber, so I had to push my chair back a bit before falling. I grinned at Alfie from the floor.

"Did Patricia I'm-Never-Wrong Williamson just apologize?" Jerome asked. I got up and returned to my seat.

"Shut up, Slimeball." Patricia sneered. "Oh, and nice cologne. Ode Cat Pee?" That earned a few laughs around the table. "And Mary Ann." She said, looking at me. Here we go again. "I'm sorry for going through your stuff." Huh? OK, that was unexpected. "But thing is, I did have a reason. And if you're interested, I'll tell you about it. Not now, obviously. But in private sometime?"

I shared a look with Fabian. Was she going to kidnap me or something like that? However, I very curious as to why she wanted my locket. "Sure, as long as you don't lock me up somewhere again. That's not very fun." I said. Some laughed, but other than that, it was the last thing anyone said for the entire meal.

I had dish duty with Fabian and Amber. I stared at the old oven, the one that didn't open, and suddenly zoned out. There was a bulge in the center of what I guess was the door. And in the center of that was an oval-shaped cut that looked a lot like my locket…

"…Mary Ann?" Fabian asked. I blinked twice.

"Hmm?" I asked, looking back at him. Then I rubbed my eyes. "Sorry… But could that be a place of fire?" I put the rag down and walked over to the sealed oven. "Remember when Trudy told us this couldn't open?" I said, tapping it with my foot.

"What are you getting at?" Fabian asked.

"Maybe…" I pulled out the locket. "Just maybe, this fits…" I pressed it against the oval-shaped cut.

Sure enough, the locket glowed red and the oven door flew upward to reveal a hidden passage!

"Not that much of a long shot, eh?" I laughed.

"Wow." Amber said, coming next to me. I peered into the passage.

"There are steps going down, from what I can see." I said excitedly. Yes, we busted the next part of the clue!

"Well, of course!" Fabian said. "Cet. Inferno, place of fire."

"Now what are YOU getting at?" I asked.

"Inferno. Hell. The clue means down in hell…" We all looked back at the passage again.

"It's really dark down there." Amber said.

"Hello?" Trudy's voice carried into the kitchen. I quickly pressed the locket to the cut and the door flew shut. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought it was never opened.

"OK, tonight at midnight." I said to them. "Sibuna?" I placed my right hand over my right eye.

"Sibuna." They agreed, making the same hand gesture.

Just then my cell phone rang loudly from upstairs. I cursed, leaving Amber and Fabian in the kitchen. I raced up the stairs, skipping two or three at a time, and sprinted into my room. A Japanese song was blaring, which meant that it was an unknown caller. I picked up the receiver, almost completely out of breath.

"H-Hello?" I exhaled. I moved the phone away so the person on the other end wouldn't hear me gasping for breath, but close enough for me to hear them.

"Hello, Miss Norton," a voice said. I recognized that voice, even though I had only heard it once. "This is Doctor Hayward. We have an update about your grandmother."

"Yes?" I breathed, "How is she? Is she alright?"

"Yes, she is awake and healthy. We would have contacted you as soon as she had awoken, but she had a bit of trouble recovering." The doc explained. I sighed with relief, feeling my eyes tear up with happiness.

"Thank you, Doctor." I told him. He didn't answer right away, and there was a murmur on the other line. Then his voice came back.

"It would appear she would like to speak with you. Are you too busy or…?"

"No! No, I'm not busy at all." I said quickly. There was a shuffle and then a new voice came on.

"How's Harry Potter Land?" The tears spilled out of my eyes now.

"Gran." I said softly. "Oh, Gran it is amazing. It's just… no words." I swiped at the tears but with no such luck. "G-Gran, I'm so sorry. I should have been there –"

"I knew you would say that." She interrupted. "So emotional. Just like your mother, I'll say. I'm fine. If you come back now, I'm going to personally see that you get back to that school." She threatened.

"But I knew, I knew that you weren't feeling well." I sobbed. "And if I never left –"

"You would never have seen your dream come true." Gran interrupted again. "Going to England. You always wanted that. Don't do anything for my sake, except be happy."

"Gran… Thank you." I said, "Thank you for helping me for all the time. And thank you for making it. If-If you died, I don't know what I would do. You're the only one I have now since… since…"

"Don't ruin the moment with that sob story." She said. I could feel her rolling her eyes. She probably mouthed to one of the nurses 'can you believe this girl?' "I know I'm the only one left since my husband, my daughter, and my daughter's husband died." She stopped. When she spoke, her voice was soft, "I love you, hon."

"I love you too." I replied. "I'll call again, all day."

"Only if you have time." Gran corrected. "Hon, I've got to go now."

"Okay." I said, not wanting to hang up. "Stay well. I love you."

"Good night." She said. And then the line went dead. I shut my cell phone off and dried my face. I walked downstairs, bouncing on each step.

Amber and Fabian looked at me when I came back. The dishes were done. "Who was it?" Fabian asked.

"My gran." I answered. New tears started to drip down my face. I cursed under my breath and wiped at them. Haven't I cried enough already?

Fabian wrapped his arms around me. I buried my head into his chest and started to sob again. "I was so scared." I said loudly.

Someone – Amber, I think – started to stroke my hair comfortingly. Amber made the 'shhhh, shhhh' sound.

"It's OK, Mary Ann." Fabian whispered.

"I thought she was going to die." I said. "And leave me all alone again. Just like the others."

I didn't see this but Amber and Fabian looked at each other, both silently questioning who these 'others' were.

_~ Midnight ~_

We met up in the kitchen. It was a bit awkward for me at first. After all, I did just ball my eyes out in front of them. But they were nice about it.

After crawling into the passage and almost tripping on the stairs, I managed to make it to another door. Amber and Fabian followed close behind. I pushed on the door, which opened quite easily, and we were met by a room filled with a couple tables, each filled with multiple test tubes and beakers.

"Ah, ghost!" Amber squealed in fright.

"It's just a sheet, Ambs." I said when I flashed my light on it. It was more of a cloak, but who cares.

"Can we find a light switch? Please?" Amber asked. "Bad things don't happen when the lights are on."

"On the contrary, the light attracts wolves in the wilderness." I said. She rolled her eyes at me. I looked at a couple test tubes. What could these be?

"OK guys, let's check this out." Fabian said. He went towards another side of the room and flicked something. Suddenly, the room filled with artificial light. I could see that the beakers were filled with multi-colored liquids, and there were shelves of them.

"This is weirding me out. Can we go?" Amber complained.

"Not just yet." I told her.

"We need to find the next clue." Fabian explained. "Be careful what you touch, guys. There might be other little surprises." We walked with him to the next room. We shined a flashlight on a stuffed pig head.

"This stuff smells old." Amber complained. "And gross."

"Guys, look on the wall." Fabian said, rushing towards a nearby wall. There was a ring hooked to it, with a painting of a flame behind it. "Flames…"

"There in the flames you must look behind!" I recited.

"That's easy. It's even got a ring on it. May as well say 'pull me' on it." Amber said.

"That's not a ring to pull, Ambs." Fabian said. "It's a tethering ring."

"Oh… oh my God…" I said, eyes widening.

"To tie animals to." Fabian explained. We all shared a look. Then Fabian grabbed hold of the hook, and started to pull. It seemed hard at first, but then it came flying off. Nothing happened.

"Aw. It seemed like a good idea…" I mumbled I looked at the tethering ring. It was big enough to fit over my head and wear as a collar. It was made out of hard leather, and on the inside of the ring were numbers engraved in it.

"Hey, there are some numbers… Serial numbers, perhaps?" I suggested. "Code?"

"Sibuna!" Amber said suddenly, hand over eye.

"Sibuna." Fabian and I said. Then came a loud BOOM.

"What was that?" Amber asked. A light shined up a staircase, and a silhouette appeared.

"A door." I realized. "We're in the cellar. And someone's coming. Hide!" We rushed around the room and before I knew it, the lights were off and we were hiding in a wardrobe.

I could hear Amber breathing in my ear. Someone opened the door just a crack, and I could see Victor standing in front of one of the tables. He was holding a bottle of something and staring at it sadly.

"Ah, so little left." He said. He poured some of it into a test tube and held it up. I saw an orange liquid swish around in it.

"To life," he said, as if making a toast. Then he brought the tube to his lips and drank it.


	8. Cats

_I really hate homework. -.- Here's chapter eight! Thanks a bunch for sticking with me so far. This is quite a long chapter, lots of fun. Enjoy!_

**CHAPTER EIGHT HOUSE OF CATS**

Victor stared at the empty test tube indifferently. He then walked out of the cellar, turning the light off while he was at it. We escaped from the wardrobe.

"Let's go." Amber said.

"Wait, what do you think was in there?" Fabian asked, looking at the science stuff on the table.

"No, let's get out of here." Amber complained.

"REEEEOOOOWWRR!" came a loud call. I jumped.

"What was that?" I asked cautiously.

"Let's get out of here." Fabian said.

"Oh, now you listen." Amber rolled her eyes. We dashed to the wall/door/place we entered from.

_~ In the morning ~_

I woke up and got dressed. I noticed Amber was still asleep. "Amber… Amber Millington… Wake up, sleepy head!" I called, shaking her. She didn't move. "Amber!" I said loudly.

"What?!" she shot up.

"Come on, or we'll be late for school." I told her.

"I can't… I didn't sleep a wink all night." Amber moaned.

"Sure, sure." I said sarcastically.

"Truth time," she called out. "Do you believe in werewolves, Mary Ann?"

"Yes." I said immediately. "Why does that matter?"

"I think that was what was making the wailing noises last night." She told me.

"Ambs, you have imagination. But I doubt Taylor Lautner is in the cellar. Or any werewolf." I said.

"Well," she said, "What else could have made a noise like that?"

"Mreow…" a cat whispered. Huh? We looked towards the door, and in walked in a cute black cat. It had a pink collar on, and had big green eyes.

"Aw, what a cute kitty!" I said. I rushed over and picked it up. "I think this made the noise." I laughed. It meowed at me. "Now get dressed!"

….

"A cat?" Fabian repeated when we told him at breakfast.

"Yes." I answered. "Obviously a black cat, creepy as always."

"And we're hiding it in our room. Cat-napping, get it?" she laughed.

"And you think that's what was making that wailing noise last night?" he asked.

We nodded. "Mreeooowww." Amber meowed. "Mreeeooowww. Mreeoow."

Suddenly Victor came in, but he was crawling around, as if he lost something. When he saw Amber, he said, "Stop making that dreadful noise." He almost left, but then asked, "Why were you making that noise, exactly?"

"Drama exercises," Amber lied. "Mr. Winkler says I have to breathe from my diaphragm."

"Have you, em, lost anything, Victor?" Fabian asked innocently.

"Maybe we can help you find it?" I added.

"Yeah, Mary Ann is super sleuthy." Fabian said. Should I take that as a compliment, or are we just lying?

"Of course I haven't lost anything," Victor said grimly. And then he walked out of the room.

"Did you see him?" I said, "It's totally Vicky's cat."

"Victor doesn't have a cat." Amber said.

"Well it has to be." I told her. "He must have been hiding it in the cellar. That's why the wails were so loud."

"And now it's escaped, and he's looking for it." Fabian deduced.

"Well," Amber said, "I'm going to take Kitty some milk." She poured milk into her bowl. "I bet it's hungry. Do you think it's meant to be tied to that ring in the cellar? That's so cruel. I'm really starting to think Victor is up to no good." She took her bowl and left. Patricia walked in immediately after.

"Thought anymore about what I said last night?" she asked, sitting where Amber once was.

"Nope." I answered. "My mind was made up. I'm curious as to your excuse."

"In private." She added. We looked at Fabian. He got the memo. After stumbling a bit, he left.

"So why do you want my locket?" I asked.

"I have a friend, who is a historian-jeweler-guy. One time, I mentioned your locket. And this friend of mine reckons it can be worth thousands of pounds. Maybe even millions." She explained. Pounds? Oh, the currency. I definitely don't need more weight.

"Really, huh?" I said, thinking about Sarah and the locket.

"Yeah, he's an expert on ancient Egypt. He knows about these things. And as soon as I mentioned your locket –"

"Pop into conversation, did it?" I interrupted.

"Yeah." She said. "Anyways, he thinks it can be worth a lot of money. That's why I was trying to borrow it before. So I could show it to him. Get confirmation." Why should she care? It was my locket.

"I could have sworn that borrowing without permission is called 'stealing'." I remarked.

"Yeah, OK, I was wrong to do that. But now I'm being straight with you. So, are you interested in meeting him or not?"

"The locket isn't for sale." I told her, "I got it from a friend. I'm keeping it for her."

"So you're not going to meet him?" she asked, disappointed now.

"I'm going to have to think about that offer." I said. She sighed.

"Fine. See you later." She said, and walked out of the room. I got out of my seat and ran to my room.

"Omigosh, you will not believe what Patricia just said." I said as I walked in. Amber sat in front of her mirror, poking her face with a make-up pencil so red dots appeared on her face. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Measles." She said. "Pretty good, right? I need to fake sick to watch the cat."

I handed her the make-up wipes. "Not going to work." I told her. "With Alfie and Jerome, I'm sure Trudy's seen it all."

She pouted for a moment, then sighed and took the wipes. "Victor caught me coming upstairs with a bowl of milk. I think he's suspicious. And he's got a scratch on his arm. It's definitely his cat, you know. What do you think he was going to do with it?"

"Stroke it." I said.

"One thing's for sure, I am not leaving on its own here all day. So if spots won't do it, I need a fever instead." Amber concluded. I rolled my eyes and took my bag.

"See you later, then." I said to her.

_~ To school ~_

"You aren't going to this friend, though, are you?" Fabian asked after I told him about what Patricia told me.

"I'm so interested in this, though. Maybe it isn't a bad idea." I said.

"I don't know. I mean, it could be dangerous." He unlocked his locker.

"It's some random person on the face of the Earth who knows Patricia. She's a lot of things, but she's not one who harms people… I don't think." Fabian gave me a look.

"But it is someone who wants the locket." Fabian said.

"Who is interested in the locket," I corrected. "And he might be able to tell us about it. Its wacky power and past. Its connection to the search may be revealed." I persuaded.

"I don't like it." he insisted.

"I'm not going taking it with me then." I told him. "OK? You can be on locket duty."

"Are you sure?" he asked. He shut his locker.

"Above all others, I trust you the most." I said, cheeks starting to redden. Maybe I can tell him about my past… No. No one must know.

"Thank you." He smiled. "I suppose." I chuckled.

"I heard Amber really, really ill." Alfie yelled as he came running to us. "What's wrong with her?"

"SHE'S DYING ALFIE," I yelled, shaking his shoulders. "SHE'LL BE FINE BY THE END OF CLASSES TODAY!"

I laughed as I let him go, Fabian joining in. We left him there, all confused.

_~ Biology Class ~_

We got our papers back before the class ended. Simple A, nothing I cared about. I had to be good at grades to have a scholarship, didn't I?

The bell rang and we all started to pack up.

"Made your mind up yet?" Patricia asked.

"Yeah. I'll come." I replied.

"Good move." She told to me.

_~ After school ~_

After we got dressed into our not-school clothes, I handed Fabian the locket. Patricia came down with a huge beam on her face, and took me by the arm without letting me say anything.

Through the woods we went. Ducking under branches, stepping over roots, and all that jazz.

"So, what's your friend's name?" I asked to fill in the void of silence.

"Renee." She said simply.

"Aw, poor guy. And we're meeting him way out here because….?" I asked. (No offense to guys named Renee).

"Because we do. Now stop complaining and keep up." She said, marching on.

"Complaining? It was a legit question!" I muttered to myself.

A few steps further Patricia stopped. There was an opening in the leaves, and I saw a green truck sitting on a road. Then there was someone in a brown trench coat.

"Get back." Patricia said, ducking next to a tree.

The man was Victor! He laid someone down on by the truck. He was dressed all in black and had brown hair. It was the man that visited Sarah!

"That's Rufus!" Patricia exclaimed. "Renee, whatever."

"That's the man we saw visit Sarah yesterday." I said.

Victor opened the truck's trunk and took Rufus-Renee-whatever by the torso and shove him into the car. After placing the man's feet in, Victor slammed the trunk door down. He then veered to the right and got it. The truck came to life and rattled away after that.

"What's going on, and what 's Victor's role in it?" I asked.

"He's taken Rufus!" she exclaimed. "Now how am I going to find Joy?"

"Let's go, we have to warn the others!" I said, taking her by the arm. She nodded and we ran back to the house. I brought Amber and Fabian into the dining room after dinner. We told Patricia the story of meeting Rufus as we cleared the table.

"So you saw Rufus meeting this old lady Sarah?" Patricia summed up.

"Yeah, she's the friend who gave me the locket." I explained. Fabian took the moment to give it back to me.

"The locket that Rufus is so interested in." Fabian added.

"Maybe Rufus was a jewelry trader," Amber said, "And Victor also collects diamonds." I shared a look with Fabian.

"What if the voice on those recordings is really Victor?" he said.

"He'd be 120, more or less." I noted.

"Well, remember Sarah, on the recordings, she talked about experiments down in the cellar." He stated, "And what was Victor making a toast to when he drank that funny-colored stuff down there?"

"To life." I whispered. "So Vicky has a type of elixir that keeps him from aging?"

"Oh yeah, and a jewelry heist is such a bad idea." Amber said, annoyed.

"This is mad." Patricia booted in. "What has any of this got to do with Joy or Rufus?"

"I don't know." Fabian said.

"And the cat?" Amber added.

Suddenly Victor walked in. I froze. "I'd hate to break up this little chat," he said, "But ten o'clock is fast approaching. I shall, of course, wish to here a pin drop so I suggest you start getting ready for bed immediately." We got up and stumbled away.

_~ Biology class the next day ~_

Mr. Sweet was talking about some electrical charge. He asked a question, but Alfie said, "I thought we were going to be dissecting a rat this week, Mr. Sweet."

"Ugh, gross." Amber said. "I think experimenting on animals is cruel and unnecessary. Especially experimenting on cats." I stared at he wide-eyed. Don't blow it, Amber!

"I don't think anybody experiments on cats nowadays, Amber," Mr. Sweet told her.

"How do you know?" Amber asked, "I mean, what if someone was trying to make something like, I don't know, just off the top of my head, an elixir of life or something." I started to bang my head on my desk. And she blew it.

"Strange idea." Mr. Sweet said, and I noticed him flustering. "Such a strange idea… ha-ha. Ridiculous."

"It was just something I read in a book, that's all." Amber lied. OK, nice save.

"Well, some alchemists in the Middle Ages did devote their lives to finding an 'elixir of life'." He put air quotes around 'elixir'. "I'm sure they experimented on animals as part of their quest. And now," he clapped twice, "can we please get back to electrical charge flow."

Class was boring, and the bell rang quickly enough. Patricia, Fabian and I ganged up on Amber. "What were you doing in there?" Patricia asked.

"It's called research." She stated. "Didn't you hear what he said about experiments? That's why Victor had a cat. He was using it to experiment on. See? I'm a genius."

"About the cat, that sounds pretty true. Run it by us first before you go 'researching' though, OK?" I told her. She nodded.

"We need to tell someone," Fabian said. "We can't keep doing this by ourselves. I mean, who can we trust? What about Jason?"

"No!" Patricia said immediately.

"Trudy?" I offered.

"Possibly." Patricia said thoughtfully.

"What we really need is some proof." Fabian said.

"What we really need is to rescue the cat from the cellar before it becomes part of Victor's evil, pointy-face scheme." Amber said. "Mary Ann? You have to let us in."

I sighed. "Fine. After classes." I told them. Amber smiled, gave me a hug, and we went to our next classes.

_~ During lunch ~_

After letting Amber and Patricia into the cellar, I went back to school. But I couldn't help but start pacing back in forth. What if Victor caught them? Or what if they got in a fight over nothing?

"This is really frustrating." Fabian said as he looked at the tethering ring from the cellar. "It has nothing to do with prime numbers, square roots, Sudoku, it's – Are you OK?" He asked, looking at me.

"Yeah, just paranoid." I told him, "Everything will be fine. But what if the two of them start to fight? Maybe we should have all gone."

"All four of us sneaking down there in the middle of the day?" Fabian said, pointing out that it sounded totally ridiculous. "It's far too risky."

"What's too risky?" Jerome asked, walking in.

"Mountain climbing is risky." I said, "Obviously." Fabian hid the ring into his bag and was focusing on the numbers he copied down into his notebook.

"What is that?" Jerome asked, looking at the numbers.

"It's a math problem," Fabian lied. "It's nothing you would understand."

"Can I have a try?" Jerome asked.

"No." Fabian said bluntly. Jerome shrugged, and then snatched it out of his hands. I held my breath. Please don't notice anything. Please don't notice anything…

After a moment of silence, Jerome said, "One, two, and nine."

"Huh?" I said, what does that mean?

"I said one, two, and nine," he repeated. "I have no idea what the problem is, but they're the numbers that are featured most. 5 pounds please." I rolled my eyes.

"Get lost." Fabian protested. Jerome crumpled the paper and then threw it at him. A smirk etched onto his face.

Amber and Patricia came busting it at that moment. "Guess what guys!" Amber said, her make up was a bit messed up, like she was crying. "Trudy's going to help us."

"Help you with what?" Jerome asked, coming back to us. We just stared at him, no one knowing what to say. Jerome chuckled, "And the plot thickens as they say."

He left when the bell rang, and Amber and Patricia explained how they saw the cat and told Trudy what was going on.

"And you told Trudy everything?" Fabian asked. We sat down and waited for the teacher to come.

"Not everything, but enough." Patricia corrected. "Cats, the experiments, Victor. We're going to make him open up that cellar and show us exactly what's down there."

Then Mr. Winkler came in. "Afternoon, everyone." He said. We echoed a hello. "Time marches on, and we need to come up with a subject matter for our school play. I was thinking we should write our own. Ideas, anyone?"

There was an awkward silence. No one had ideas. "No?" Winkler repeated. "OK, well how about something on… Egypt." He was looking at me now.

"Egypt." Fabian repeated, looking to me with silly grin. I smiled.

"I know." Amber said suddenly. "How about we do a story about a young girl who loses her parents under mysterious circumstances when they steal some treasure from an Egyptian pyramid." Oh no, Amber! "And then the girl's brought up by a weird guardian in a big, old house. But then the guardian tries to steal the treasure! And then the girl has to try and stop him. But then she get's help from some friend from the future. And they find the treasure. And the girl is very happy, and the friends are really rich." I rubbed my temple. Amber! "And they all live happily ever after. The end!"

The rest of the class looked at her with shock. "H-Hey!" Winkler said in amusement. "Well done Amber. Yeah, that sounds promising. Do you want to have a go writing the outline in time for the next session?"

"Um, I think I might need some help with that." Amber said. She spun around, eyes bright. "Mary Ann?"

I froze. "Ah… s-sure." I said.

"Alright. Please have the outline by our next session. Thanks for meeting up, guys. See you tomorrow." Winkler said. We all packed up and went back to the house.

Oh man…

_~ Later that evening ~_

I dressed out of the uniform into blue jeans and an oversized sweater. Patricia, Amber, Fabian and I waited in the living room for Trudy.

When she finally came, she said, "OK, Victor's on his way. Look, I've been thinking about what you've said. It all sounds totally farfetched to me."

"I know it does," I told her. "But once you see the cellar –"

"And the dead cat!" Amber added.

"You'll realize it's true." I finished.

"You wouldn't know the truth even if it jumped up and hit you in the eye." Victor said as he walked in. "Now then, Trudy, what is this all about? What do you want to see me for?"

"Oh it's not so much me, but the students." Trudy explained. "They were worried about this cat that Amber found."

"Cat?" Victor repeated, looking at Amber.

"Well, they all seem to think that… you've killed it." Trudy finished.

Victor paused for a moment, letting it sink it. "Killed it? You think I killed a cat, Trudy?" he looked at her now.

"No, no I don't." Trudy said quickly. He was going to blame this on Trudy?! "It's just… well… they all do."

"Why on Earth would I kill a cat?" Victor exclaimed.

"For your experiments in the cellar," Patricia said.

"Yeah, ask him about the scratches on his arm, Trudy." Amber said.

"Visibly cat-like." I piped in.

"Quiet." Victor said loudly.

"Well, how did you get those scratches, Victor?" Trudy asked.

"There was a cat," Victor admitted. "A stray, which I put in the cellar for safe keeping as it was my intention to call the animal sanctuary. However, in the mean time, it escaped and I have absolutely no idea where it is now."

"Liar!" Amber said, "He killed it!"

Victor laughed, "Children. They have such vivid imaginations."

"Why don't we all put this behind us by going down into the cellar, and taking a peek." Trudy suggested.

"Are you questioning my version of events, Trudy?" Victor asked.

"No. No, it's just –"

"I… am shocked, Trudy." Victor interrupted. "I am shocked and hurt by your obvious lack of trust."

"Well, if you put the students' minds at rest…" Trudy asked.

"You want to see down in the cellar?" Victor exploded. "Hmm? Very well, fine. I'll show you what's down in the cellar! Come with me! Come all!" We got up and followed him into the hall. He opened the door to the cellar and led us down. He was whistling. Amber went first, and gasped. I looked….

The cellar was empty! No tables were out and the shelves were swiped clean! Even the dummy in the robe was gone.

"Meeeoooowww." Something went. Trudy jumped. A black cat scurried across the room.

"Aha, the cat I presume." Our caretaker said with amusement. "Looks very much alive to me."

"Victor," Trudy said breathlessly. "I am so sorry." She turned to us. "How could you set me up like that?"

"We didn't set you up, Trudy." Patricia argued. "Honest."

"But… I saw it. It was dead." Amber said in disbelief.

"There was a lot of stuff down here. Really scary, creepy, science-y stuff." I added.

"We couldn't make up that creepy old stuff." Amber said. Well, I could, but I didn't say anything.

"Silence," Victor interrupted. "Trudy, it has been very nice working with you over the years. But after this fiasco, I'm afraid I can no longer continue to do so."

"What?" Trudy and I said at the same time. He can't fire Trudy!

"You're fired." He said. Everyone gasped. He did it. He fired Trudy. Oh… my gosh.

And it was all our fault.


	9. Cameras

_Hello Internet! My, the weather is horrible! (glances at hail outside). I'm blowing off studying for this, so feel special! I wasn't sure how to spell King Tut's full name (Google said it was "Tutankhamun" but Word was insistent to tell me it was "Tutankhamen"), so sorry._

**CHAPTER NINE HOUSE OF CAMERAS**

The next morning, Trudy was leaving. Everyone huddled by the door, every person muttering to another. We really did it this time. We got Trudy fired.

She had tears in her eyes when she emerged from the kitchen.

"Trudy," Fabian said, "We're really sorry."

"We didn't mean for this to happen." My voice cracked.

"I know." Trudy said, "It's my own fault for believing your silly stories."

"No, we pressured you into believing." I said, tears swelling up in my eyes. I didn't hear what she said to Mara, but I heard her say, "I'm going to miss all of you."

"Your taxi's here." Victor said, coming from the front door. He didn't even sound remotely sorry. Amber gave Trudy a hug.

"How can you do this?" she asked Victor. "Trudy hasn't done anything wrong."

Victor regarded Amber. "Goodbye Trudy." He said bluntly. I heard Trudy sniffle and then she ran out the door. Victor closed it behind her.

"She's gone now." I stated. Fabian gave me a hug and I rubbed my eyes to prevent any tears.

For breakfast that morning, we had some weird oatmeal thing. It looked worse than anything in the cellar. Amber gagged on the tea. Mick refused to eat. Mara was telling Cook Victor what Trudy always made as I laughed at how Alfie made the oatmeal-substance work as glue to hold the tea cup to the plate.

"Forget Trudy," Victor said, "And if you don't like my cooking, you can always do it yourself." He returned to the kitchen.

"How did he live before Trudy came?" I asked to no one in particular. "This is poisonous, I swear." Alfie and Jerome laughed.

"How about we get breakfast from the vending machines at school, guys." Amber suggested. We all agreed, and left.

When we got into the hallway, I saw two men installing a camera to the ceiling.

"No way, they're installing security cameras?" Amber said.

"They can't do that," Fabian protested, "It's a total invasion on our privacy."

"And the camera adds 20 pounds." Amber said, as if it was more important.

"The school is always striving to improve your personal security." Victor said when he came from the kitchen. "This is our latest measure to make you feel safe and secure." I rolled my eyes. Safe and secure, my foot.

"As long as they don't install them in our rooms," I said, "Or I'd have to call the police against him."

_~ After school ~_

Sibuna met up in Amber/my room. "How can we search for clues with Vicky's cameras stalking us?" I asked. Patricia walked in. "I feel like I'm in a reality TV-show. A really boring one, too."

"I don't know why I keep trying. Rufus is never going to pick up," she told us. "It's like Joy all over again."

"Except we know who took Rufus. We don't know who took Joy." Fabian noted.

"Are you kidding?" Patricia asked sarcastically. "Of course Victor took her."

"But where does he take them to?" Amber asked. "And why."

"And suddenly the reality show gets better. We can't trust anyone but each other now. Sibuna?" I placed my hand over my eye.

"Sibuna." Fabian and Amber said, doing the same.

"Si-what?" Patricia repeated. Oh yeah, she didn't know about our club.

"Welcome to your destiny!" I said dramatically. "Or in other words, the club."

"Together, we are invincible." Fabian smirked. I smiled.

"OK, I have an idea about these cameras." Patricia told us. "But it means enlisting the help of our favorite double comedy act."

"SpongeBob and Patrick?" Amber guessed. I laughed.

"Lewis and Clark, silly." I corrected. She made an 'oh' sound. I turned to Patricia, "So what's this idea?"

_~ TIME WARP ~_

We got Mick, Mara, Alfie and Jerome in on the idea. They all agreed. We took chairs from the cupboard in the main hall, and everyone paired up based on roommate. Alfie and Jerome took the camera by the front door. Mick and Fabian took the camera in that hallway. Patricia and Mara took the camera in the upstairs hallway. Amber and I took the camera in the living room.

We took the chairs and placed them in front of the camera. Then we stood on them so the camera could see us. I laughed. "Hello!" I waved. Amber waved.

Victor turned on the newly installed megaphone. "Get away from those cameras immediately." His voice boomed. I looked at Amber.

"Nah, I'm good. You?" I asked.

"Totally fine." She replied. We laughed. Victor came down the stairs. We watched him talk at Alfie and Jerome.

"What's wrong, Victor?" Alfie asked sweetly. "We're only doing the same as you. We're watching you, watching us." I chuckled.

"It's a peaceful protest." Jerome stated. Victor got pissed off and went back upstairs. I waved at the camera again.

_~ Nearly lights out ~_

Eventually we did get bored, and we all disbanded. I sat on my bed in my pajamas (which consisted of flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt) and did some research for the outline for the play. I can't believe Amber was dumping this all on me.

"_Baby, I have no story to be told_

_But I've heard one on you_

_And I'm gonna make your head burn_"

I listened to Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" on iTunes. I wasn't sure if Amber liked the music I played, but she seemed to like the song. I went to Google and searched "treasures of early 1900s". Amber's story had a treasure that was found, so might as well use something that is already found.

"_The scars of your love remind me of us_

_They keep me thinking that we almost had it all_

_The scars of your love, they leave me breathless_

_I can't help feeling_"

Some tree species were found… some treasure ships…. Manuscripts…

I clicked a random link. Carter and the king's tomb… I sat up higher. An expedition. That would be really cool. 23 people in the party. A raid took place, some of the treasure was stolen. Two of the suspects were…. Omigosh…. The Frobisher-Smythes. Accused of thievery. Hidden items, still not found to this day. This is major.

"Amber, you will not believe what I found." I said. "I have to tell Fabian. I'll be right back." I sprung out of bed with my laptop and rushed out of the room.

"Where are you going, Miss Norton?" Victor boomed when he saw me rushing downstairs.

"Gotta talk with Fabian." I spilled, "School related. Can't wait." I brushed past Mick in the hallway.

I didn't even knock. He was strumming on a guitar. Huh, I didn't know he was musical. He saw me and stumbled to hide the instrument.

"Sorry. Should've knocked. Too important." I breathed. "Research for the play. Found some good material. But the material…" I sat on his bed, and he sat next to me. I showed him the site.

"This is about Howard Carter. And when his team rediscovered Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922." Fabian pointed out. He leaned closer to read the first paragraph. My cheeks flushed. We were so close…

"Yeah. Twenty-three were in the search party. We know two of them, they used to live ri-i-ight here." I hinted.

He smiled. "The Frobisher-Smythes."

"Yeah, but there's so much more." I told him. I scrolled down. "They were involved in a case. Accused of stealing items from the tomb and smuggling them back to Britain."

"Wow." Fabian muttered, skimming over the articles.

"They were found not guilty by the majority verdict. After the trial, some of the jurors said they thought the couple hid the items." I summarized.

"And?" Fabian asked.

"The items were never found." I told him. Excitement filled me. He placed the laptop on his lap.

"So, you're saying the treasure we are looking for could have come from Tutankhamen's tomb." Fabian concluded.

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying." I said. "Isn't this so much more exciting?"

"Yeah, great. And you plan to make this into the play?"

"Yeah, maybe." I said. "But instead of a trial… I'll have Anubis punish them. Make it more dramatic." Suddenly, I was all too aware of Secondhand Serenade's "Fall for You" playing in room, already three-fourths of the way finished.

I blushed deeply. I never knew why, but I was always embarrassed when other people listened to the music on my iPod/iTunes. Amber is the exception, because she likes my choices of music. "Uh…" I hit the mute button. "Sorry about that. I listen to music when I work… And…"

He chuckled. "It's alright." He reread some of the article. "This is a great find, Mary Ann. Good job."

I smiled. "Thanks. I better be off now before Victor comes in." I stood up. I closed the laptop and took it from him. "Good night." Before I could stop myself, I kissed him on the forehead. Blushing, I left the room.

"What is it?" Amber asked when I reentered our room. I explained to her about my findings and what Fabian and I discussed.

"That's amazing, Mary Ann." She told me.

"Lights out!" Victor said via megaphone. I rolled my eyes and went to bed.

_~ Morning_ ~

I laughed as I watched the others struggle in the kitchen. Some were running all around the kitchen to make some sort of substance. Some were still fixing their ties. Someone yelled something about being out of milk.

I munched on my apple. Sometimes in America I totally skipped breakfast. Today was like no other. I'd just be starving during lunch.

"Stop!" Fabian yelled. Everyone stopped to look at him. "We can't go on like this. We're gonna starve."

"We need Trudy back." Patricia said.

"And the downfall of cameras!" I piped in.

"We need to show them we mean business." Patricia said. "And I know exactly how to do it."

"Let's hear it." Jerome said, intrigued.

"We have another peaceful protest." Patricia smirked. She told us the plan.

We all sat around the dining table. Books and papers spread out. It was like a homework center, but not quite. I sat around working on the script, conferring with Amber and Fabian from time to time.

It only took about ten minutes before Victor noticed that we hadn't gone to school. He came into the room. "What is going on here? Get to your lessons immediately."

"Not until you've taken down the security cameras." Patricia replied.

"And rehired Trudy." I added.

"And gotten softer toilet paper." Amber listed. Everyone looked at her. "What? As long as we're making demands."

"You dare deliver ultimatums to me? I'll soon bring all of you to your senses when I speak to Mr. Sweet about having you all thrown out of school!" He threatened. That seemed a little harsh.

"You don't have the power," Patricia argued. Then, "Do you?"

"Oh, Miss Williamson, I have more power than you could ever imagine. Now get to school, all of you, unless you are prepared to suffer the consequences." He said.

Everyone looked at each other. Not a word was spoken.

Finally, Mick spoke up. "Thing is… it's this sports scholarship. I need to get refers from the school." I sighed as he packed up.

"There's a class from Cecals that I really want to hear," Mara said. "Sorry Patricia." She packed up.

"My parental unit will kill me if I get expelled from yet another school." Alfie said, packing up quickly.

"Yeah, bad idea anyway," Jerome said, "I'm out."

"Oh well so much for solidarity." Patricia said sarcastically. Amber started to pack up.

"Don't leave." Patricia said.

"I'm sorry." Amber said, "I'm really, really sorry. I'm just scared of 'the consequences'." She tried to whisper the last bit, but Victor still heard.

"Very wise, Miss Millington, very wise indeed." He coaxed. When Amber left, he closed the door behind us. Suddenly, it didn't feel like such a good idea.

"And so we have the ring leaders." Victor said, pointing at us. Fabian, Patricia and I were the only ones left. "I'm giving you one last chance to obey my orders to go to school."

It all felt hopeless now. Gran wanted me to come. I wanted to come. I felt angry that I got pushed into this mystery that made us find the cellar, which made us get Trudy fired which made the security cameras come into the picture. And now I was hanging on the edge of getting expelled. Then I felt angry with Victor. He was our caretaker. He should be taking care of us, shouldn't he? I wasn't going to get bullied into leaving. I've had enough bullying for a lifetime.

"No." I said, daring to look straight into his eyes.

He was taken aback. He rubbed his temple. "What did you say?" he asked, not looking at me now.

"I think I said no." I told him. "Non, no, niama, ne, nicht, ani." I said, each a different language.

"What?" he said in confusion.

"Yeah," Fabian said. "She said no." I smiled at him.

"No." Patricia said to Victor.

"No." We all said. Victor pointed at each of us angrily, and then walked out of the room. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. I smiled at the two people sitting with me.

We had a lot of free time since we weren't going to class. Fabian decided to work on the numbers from the tethering ring. I worked on the outline for the play. Patricia did who knows what.

Just when I had a scene down in my head, Fabian tapped my shoulder and walked into the kitchen. I followed him.

He set his notebook down and tapped with is pencil. "1922" was written in big writing and circled.

"1922…" I muttered. "Oh, the year King Tut's tomb was discovered."

"And that is what the numbers meant." Fabian said.

"Look at you, figuring this stuff out." I said, nudging him. He chuckled. "Could you believe that the stolen items from Tutankhamen's tomb can actually be hidden in the house?"

"This could be huge," Fabian said, making my smile grow bigger. "And our next clue must be linked to this date somehow."

"Tombs are so cool." I said. "And the weird coffin things are definitely awesome." I laughed and crossed my arms in the fashion shown on them. The smile on my face fell.

"The sarcophagus." I realized. "Like in the hallway. We have to check to see if the date is on it somehow!"

"And how do you plan to do that?" Fabian asked. I smiled.

"The girl way, that's how." I told him. I went back to my bag and dug around. I made an 'aha!' sound when I took out my mirror. He must have realized what I planned to do because he smiled.

We both entered the hallway, standing right in the center. I held out my mirror and pretended to fix my hair. I used it to look behind me, at the sarcophagus, and searched it all over. No numbers… no numbers… no numbers… Aha! I found a set of four digits at the base. I read them backwards and found out they said "1922".

"It's 1922!" I exclaimed. I put the mirror down.

"Yes!" Fabian whispered to me. "OK…" He took off his gray sweater, "When I say 'go', you've got around thirty seconds max to get a closer look, OK?"

"What is that brain of yours plotting, Rutter? Do you have a plan?" I asked.

"Eeeeh," he said in a stalling manner. "Yeah." And on that note, he threw his sweater up and it caught on the camera. "Go!" he said, and ran to the stairs.

I slid to the numbers on the coffin. I hit it around. Nothing worked. Did it move up? No. Down? No. Left or right? No. I noticed a small button on the side near the engraved numbers. I could hear Fabian arguing with Victor. I pressed it.

Instantly, a block moved up to reveal a hidden space. I nabbed the parcel inside and slammed the block down. I shoved the parcel into my pocket and ran to the stairs. Thankfully, that's was all the time Fabian was able to provide, and Victor bounded down the stairs. I crossed my arms across my chest.

Victor looked at me strangely, and then looked to the camera. "Ha ha." He said. "Oh yes." He walked past me and I smiled at Fabian. Realizing I got the next clue, he grinned and came down the stairs. "Very amusing," Victor went on. He took down Fabian's sweater and glared at us. He tossed Fabian his sweater back and then went back up the stairs without another word.

We walked back into the living room. I felt very accomplished.

"What was that about?" Patricia asked.

"Oh nothing." I shrugged, knowing Victor could still hear us. "Just some amusement."

We sat back down at the table. I stared at the sheet of paper in front of me, and a realization hit. "Aw, shit." I said. I hit Fabian on the shoulder playfully. "Fabian! You made me forget my story!"

Patricia and Fabian just laughed. I grumbled and picked up my pencil.

After an hour or two, I gave up play writing. I took out my laptop and checked my email for the first time in weeks.

I had three new messages. One was from Amazon, telling me about some recommended books. The other two were from unknown email addresses. I clicked on one.

'_Hey Mary. Did you think we'd forgotten about you?'_ I read. My throat tightened. '_We haven't seen you in school this year. We don't miss you. Have you finally fled the country like the murdering bitch you are? We know what you did. We hope the police find you and throw you into jail to rot_.'

There wasn't a signature at the end, so I didn't know who sent the message. But I knew it was someone from my old school. How did they find my email address? My gorge rose.

I clicked to the next one. It wasn't any better. '_You are a stupid girl. How many people have you killed now? The police will find you. The bad will always get what they deserve. I hope you rot in prison with the rats. It's a wonder why they haven't arrested you yet. Your parents weren't the first, were they? Mary, Mary, Mary. We all hope you die_.'

I clicked back to the first email. I hit the 'Reply' button.

They always say to avoid your bullies. Walk away, log out. Block them on the Internet. Don't take their crap. But of course, no one listens. They argue online, calling names and using caps lock. But I replied calmly.

_Hello_, I typed. _Thank you for not forgetting me. Yes, I haven't been to school. But I haven't fled the country. I was given a scholarship to a prestigious school in England. Again, for the millionth time, I have not killed anyone. I haven't hurt anyone. If you have read the papers from back then, you will find that the police have already found the men who killed my parents. Goodbye._

I hesitated. I reread the draft twice. It made me seem calm. Collected. I hit 'Send'.

It loaded. Then the screen went to my inbox and said 'your message has been sent'. I let out a deep sigh. I looked at the two emails, and memories of middle school and high school came back to me. I blinked hard to keep the anger in check.

"Mary Ann, are you alright?" Fabian asked, staring at me with concerned blue eyes. I jumped.

I brushed a lock of hair out of my face and plastered a smile on my face. "Yeah, I'm fine." I lied.

"Do you want to work on our math assignment together?" he offered. I nodded and I offered to Patricia as well.

She agreed and the three of us worked on Math. Patricia noticed Victor in the hallway, putting on a coat. After a moment, I heard the front door slam.

"He's gone out." Fabian rushed. "Quick, let's check out our new clue."

I dug the parcel out of my pocket. Unfolding it carefully, I read what was written on it aloud.

"Beleathered and clasped. Here is the only place where yesterday always follows tomorrow…" My voice got smaller by the end of the reading.

"Beleathered and clasped," Patricia repeated.

"An old briefcase?" Fabian guessed.

"What about a book, or a diary?" I added.

"I like it." Patricia agreed.

"We got the chandelier out from under the stairs. It was filled with old stuff. A big box of leather-bound books was in there!" I said.

"Right," Fabian remembered. "Alright, let's take a look while he's out." I refolded the clue and we went into the hall. I removed the wall panel and Fabian went in.

"Can you keep guard?" I asked Patricia.

"Yeah, of course." She said. She sat in the chair nearby. I stared down at the boxes in front of me. Some had books, some didn't. I grabbed a flashlight from the kitchen and sat next to Fabian.

I flipped through some of the books. Nothing seemed special about them. None of them seemed… important. They were just a bunch of books in dusty boxes under the stairs.

"I can't find anything," I whined. "No clasped book."

"We need something that has something to do with the clue," Fabian restated in case we forgot. "The only place where yesterday always follows tomorrow…"

I picked up a pile of pictures deep in the back. I shined the light on it. One was of the Anubis House. The next one was of Victor. It was a black-and-white photo. He wasn't wearing his trench coat, and he was holding a shovel. He looked at the camera with boredom, like "why am I doing this when there are pins I could drop?" I flipped it over and there was some scribbling on the back. When I read it, I paled.

"Fabian…" I whispered cautiously. Chills ran down my spine. "Come look at this…" he looked at me. "It's from 1925." He sat down next to me, our shoulders touching, and I could hear him breathing. There was no way Victor should be alive if this was taken in 1925. There was just no way. I handed him the photo, and focused on shining a light on it.

"It's Victor." He said. "But he looks… exactly the same as he does now."

"Hurry up," Patricia said from outside. "He could be back any minute." I looked at her. She must have seen how scared I felt, because she then asked, "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I think…" I said slowly, not believing in what I was saying. "I think we have…"


	10. Frights

_Woo! Double digits! Celebrations by handing out cyber cookies to all those who Reviewed/Followed/Favorited this story. It means a lot. Really. (gets all teary-eyed)_

**CHAPTER TEN HOUSE OF FRIGHTS**

The next day, the security cameras were taken down. Everyone's moods were lifting.

Amber had convinced Mick's dad – who came to have a chat with said son – to pretend to be mad, threaten to remove Mick from the school, and get Mr. Sweet to persuade Victor to reinstate Trudy and rid us of security cameras.

Victor was keen to let us know that he still had power. "I may not have my cameras anymore, but I'm still watching you. Remember that…" he told us that morning

All I could think of was 'stalker!'

At school, Fabian called us (Amber, Patricia and I) over to his locker. "I woke up early this morning." He said, "I went back under the stairs and found this." He took a brown book from his bag.

He opened to the inside cover. I read the title. "A time machine?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's leathered, like in the clue. And it's about time travel so it could be the only place where yesterday always follows tomorrow." Fabian said.

I shrugged. "Sounds legit. Find anything?"

"Actually, nothing." He admitted. "Yet. But if it's in there, I will."

"Amber wants to see the photo of Victor the Ever-living." Patricia said. Fabian got it from his bag. He handed the picture to the blonde.

"That is so creepy." Amber said.

"It gets even creepier," Fabian said, "There are two or three other ones, all from different years." He handed them the other photos we found. Sure enough, they all still had Vicky on them.

"That's the same Victor in all of them." Patricia noted.

"Do you think he's a ghost?" Amber asked. "Or, I don't know, a vampire?"

"No, Amber," Fabian said, trying not to laugh, "I do not. Although I do think it's confirmation of the existence of an elixir of life."

"That means going back down into the cellar." Amber said.

"If it means going to the cellar again, then that's what we'll do." Fabian said. "We'll go back, we'll steal some of the stuff, we'll bring it back, and we'll get it analyzed. Don't worry. I'll do it myself."

"Nuh-uh." I said, "You don't get all the fun. We're a team; we stick together. I'm coming too."

"I'm coming too." Patricia piped up. We looked at Amber. "'Sibuna,' Amber?" Patricia pressured.

"C'mon, cupcake." I said. I put a hand on her shoulder. "You started this all. You made the fabulous name and everything. It won't be the same without you."

Amber sighed after a pause. "Sibuna." She said, doing the gesture.

"Sibuna." The rest of us said, doing the same.

"Now let's go to class." I said. We walked off.

We walked into the lounge, where Mr. Winkler was holding the meeting for Drama. Amber and I sat down on the couch.

"Good morning, everyone." Winkler said, coming in. "Listen, before we start today's class I'd like to draw your attention to this sheet of paper on the wall here." He placed a hand next to a lined paper on the wall. It said 'SCHOOL PLAY SIGN UP HERE'. "Anyone who's interested in auditioning for the school play, sign you autograph up there. Amber, Mary Ann, how are you doing with the script?"

"Mary Ann's all over it," Amber said. "Right, Mary Ann?' She looked at me with a sweet smile on her face.

"I…" I looked back to Winkler. "I wrote most of the beginning, but I'm not sure if they're worthy of being a play…"

"Don't worry about it," Winkler assured me, "It's all a work in progress. But I would like to start auditioning next week, if that's OK?"

"Next week?" I repeated. I still haven't written anything about Victor's character or Anubis's yet.

"I'm sure it'll be great." Fabian told me.

"I'm still nervous about following this whole Sarah-theme." I whispered to him. He only smiled at me with assurance.

_~ After school ~_

When we returned to the house, we got a surprise. A very familiar woman was cleaning the banisters on the staircase.

"You're back!" Amber screamed with delight. She ran and practically jumped Trudy in a hug.

"Oh it's so good to see you!" Patricia smiled. I grinned immensely. Trudy laughed and teased Amber.

"Oh Trudy, Trudy, Trudy!" Amber jumped up and down. "It's so good to see you."

"Welcome home, Trudy," Patricia said, "We really missed you."

"You have no idea just how much." Fabian and I said at the same time. We just all started to laugh again.

"Can I help you with dinner tonight?" Amber offered, "Or cleaning, or anything. I've just missed you so much!"

"Thank you, sweetie, but no." Trudy declined. "Schoolwork comes first."

"Ugh, what is this place, a school?" I complained, earning a few laughs.

Then, to ruin the moment, Victor came in through the front door. There was an awkward silence as we all looked at him. "Trudy," he regarded.

"Victor." Trudy said back.

"The hall is not a lounging area," Victor scolded. He shooed us away. The girls and I went up the stairs. Fabian went to his room.

A few minutes later, when everyone came home, we settled up. Mara grabbed a bouquet that we had all paid for. Amber held the cake.

"Ready?" I whispered. The residents of the house nodded. "One, two, three!"

"Trudy, Trudy, Trudy!" we chanted, all walking into the living area. Trudy jumped in surprise, but then started to laugh. "Trudy, Trudy, Trudy!"

"For you, Trudy." Mara said, holding the flowers out to her.

"We're all so pleased to have you back."

"Oh…" Trudy looked like she was going to cry. "Stop it, you guys."

"Oh don't cry." Alfie said, "Cook." That made everyone laugh.

"We reckon Victor got into serious trouble from Sweet and Andrews for firing you." Fabian said.

Trudy frowned. "Don't be disrespectful, Fabian. I'm sure Victor thought he was doing the right thing."

"Time to put your feet up, Trudy." Patricia saved the dangerously depressing mood. "We'll finish this, won't we Mara?"

"Yup." Mara took the flowers back from Trudy.

"And Alfie is going to make you a cup of tea." Patricia looked at Alfie, then back at Trudy.

"Am I?" Alfie asked.

"Does he have to?" Trudy asked, begging.

"Hey, it was just a tiny fire last time." Alfie protested. Some of us laughed.

"And I bought you some cake, Trudy." Amber said. She opened the box to reveal it. "It's not as nice as yours."

"Aw, that looks lovely, sweetheart." Trudy said. "It is good to be back."

Amber took Trudy to the couches. Fabian and Mick went with them. I followed Alfie to the kitchen to make sure he didn't make any disasters. We worked out OK. Only a small spark was lit. The tea wasn't poisonous (we tested it on Alfie first).

It was great to have Trudy back. It brought everyone back together.

_~ MIDNIGHT ~_

We snuck back into the cellar through the oven. It was chilly, and of course I was only wearing pajama shorts and a thin t-shirt. I wore a night robe over it, as well as where two sets of socks.

Fabian went in first. He had the flashlight, and when he shined it into the cellar I couldn't help but feel anger. All the flasks and tubes and stuff were set out on the tables. Even the cloaks and the creepy boar head were there. Fabian flipped the light switch.

"Surprise, surprise." Patricia said sarcastically.

"Everything's back." I said, "Why do we get the intelligent bad guys? Why can't Indiana Jones or James Bond?"

"And the stuffed cat." Amber said in disgust, looking at it.

"Right." Fabian said, turning to us. "We know why we came here. Let's get checking."

Just then the power went out.

"It's OK, it's OK." Fabian said before anyone could freak out. "Don't worry." He waved his flashlight. I took a deep breath. I went to one corner of the room and looked around. There were a bunch of sets of small scales on a shelf. Now why that was there, I had no idea.

"What was that?" Amber asked suddenly.

There was a moment of silence to listen. Nothing. "It's nothing." Fabian said. I went to look with him.

"Victor has been busy." He said. I looked at all the colorful test tubes.

"Which one do you think it is?" I asked. He looked at some of them.

"This is the one I saw him drinking." he said, picking up a corked bottle. Orange liquid swished around inside.

"Are you sure?" I double-checked. "You have to be sure."

"As I can be," he said, "it looks the same."

There was a loud wailing noise. It echoed throughout the walls.

"I really hope that was another cat." Amber said, scared.

"No, it's Taylor Lautner." I retorted sarcastically. Fabian and I walked to the other two Sibuna members.

"Here, puss." Amber called out sweetly. The wardrobe we had once hid in creaked open. Two creatures were coming out. They had inhuman eyes, rotted teeth, and claws. They lunged.

All of us screamed and ran out the way we came. I could have sworn I had heard laughing when I shut the oven door.

_~ Morning ~_

"Good morning, good morning, good morning. I trust that everyone slept well last night?" Alfie said happily as he and Jerome entered the living area. I hardly paid attention to them. Neither Amber nor I slept a wink last night after the incident in the cellar.

"What's it to you?" Patricia asked, annoyed.

"I just care." Alfie said. OK, what's going on? Alfie never cares. "Sleep is an essential part of life."

"Say, did anyone hear that cat last night?" Jerome asked. "It sounded like a combination of a very old goat and a screaming baby."

"That wasn't a cat." Amber said, "It was me. And you'd scream too if you were cornered by a pair of zombies."

"Yeah, she woke me up with the screaming too." I lied quickly. "Crazy nightmares." I kicked her under the table.

"Sorry." She whispered.

"And once again we enter the strange and predictable world that is Amber's mind." Jerome teased.

"Jerome, you must have heard the rumors of what's buried under the cellar." Alfie said. Realization hit me, and I full on glared at the two of them. They pranked us! They actually pranked us!

"Yes I have." Jerome replied. "The two teachers who were buried alive."

"You could hear their stomachs rumbling. And at night they come out and eat your brains!" He slightly tackled Amber, who yelled his name and pushed him. Jerome was laughing.

"I think we found our zombies." Fabian said sarcastically. I said a bunch of curse words in French, glaring at the two pranksters.

"You pig!" Amber slapped Alfie in the stomach. "I've never been so scared in my entire life! Except for that time when my dad froze my allowance."

"Amber…" Jerome made a moan and invaded Amber's personal space while wearing a zombie mask. He laughed and so did Alfie.

"You think you're really funny, don't you?" Patricia sneered. The two boys high-fived. "Well you're not."

"Lighten up," Jerome said, "it was a joke. And what were you doing down there, anyways?"

Suddenly the cereal I was eating became very interesting. "Ooh," Jerome said. "Haven't they gone quiet all of a sudden, Alfie?" Then Mara came walking in. She sat down. I swished around the leftover milk in my empty bowl.

"Sibuna in my room before class." I whispered to Fabian and Amber, and then I got up and put my bowl in the sink. I went up to my room and started getting ready for classes. The three of Sibuna came in.

"I totally thought they were Vicky-related zombies." I complained when they entered. Amber sat on her bed, Patricia sat on Amber's chair, and Fabian sat on the floor. I picked up some books and sat next to Amber.

"Me two." Amber said, fixing her tie.

I shuddered, "Part of his experiments…"

"Or family members." Patricia suggested.

"I never really thought zombies." Fabian said, getting off the floor.

"Yeah, they could've been mythological creatures." I said teasingly.

"Yeah right," Patricia said to Fabian's comment, "You were screaming louder than us."

Fabian ignored the comment and took the bottle from the cellar out of his bag. "We still need to get the elixir analyzed." He said.

"I say we give it to the police," Amber suggested, "And the photos, and the recordings."

"We can't," Patricia argued. "They're in on it with Victor's spooky friends."

"And why would they believe us? I have a magic locket and we have in our possession an elixir of life?" I added.

"We need to hide it." Fabian said.

"I know," Patricia said. She took out an orange bottle from her bag. After chugging down whatever it contained, she said, "Give it here" and poured the orange liquid into the bottle. She put the bottle back in her bag.

"TIME FOR SCHOOL!" I heard Trudy call from downstairs. I gathered my things and we headed out.

Before class started, Sibuna met up in a classroom and went on a school computer. We searched up places we could get confirmation about whatever was in the bottle. "OK," Fabian said, "Here's a list of all the British universities with major chemistry research accounts. Take your pick."

"Just stop for a second." Patricia interrupted. "What are we going to say exactly? 'Hi, we're a bunch of school students. We think we've got the elixir to eternal life, could you test it for us?' Well, they're going to think we're insane."

"This is freaking me out," Fabian groaned. He rubbed his eyes. "We have the thing, but we don't know what to do with it."

"Drink it?" Amber offered. We all gave her a look. "Just an idea…"

"Well, I'm going to visit Sarah. She might be able to lead us somewhere." I announced.

"Ask her about Rufus." Patricia said. "They obviously know each other. He was visiting her that time."

"Yeah, maybe she knows why Victor's taken him." Amber said. I nodded. Then the bell rang and we headed to class.

_~ Evening, visiting Sarah ~_

I poured a cup of tea. I felt very British. We had a small plate of cookies as well, but I got the sense I'd eat them all.

"Hey Sarah?" I asked, "Did your parents ever mention an elixir? Not just any elixir, but one that gives you immortality."

"I don't want to live forever." Sarah said seriously.

"Yeah, of course." I agreed. "But… do you know anyone who might?"

"I had a visitor the other day," she changed the subject. She seemed quite happy about it. "Um… now what was his name…"

_Ask her about Rufus._

"Rufus?" I suggested.

"Yes," Sarah said, "that's it. Rufus."

"How do you know him?" I asked slowly, not wanting to push.

"Oh, we used to play together when we were small." She told me.

"Are you sure? You're a lot older than he is." I said. They played together. When they were small. Was Rufus like… Victor? Ever-living?

"He was such a sweet boy," Sarah said dreamily. It made me wonder if that was all that was of them.

I couldn't help it. I took out the 1925 photo of Victor from my purse. "Do you recognize him?" I asked, handing it to her.

Sarah gasped. "It's him! It's him – oh no! No, no, no, no." She freaked. "He means to do it, child. He wants to tip the scales of life."

"It's alright, Sarah." I tried to say. I shoved the photo back into my purse. "I'm sorry, so sorry!"

"He's the one," Sarah said scared, "He killed them! Now he wants to stay forever… But you must stop him." She took my hands in a death grip. I jumped.

"H-Hush, little b-baby, don't say a word." She started to recite the lullaby. "Daddy's going to buy you a big, black bird."

That's not how the song went, but bigger things were running through my mind.

Victor killed people! Actually killed people!


	11. Traumas

_What, Victor killed people?! Sorry, this is out so late because I just got back. Instantly to the computer... I think my parents think I'm obsessed the Internet...  
_

**CHAPTER ELEVEN HOUSE OF TRAUMAS**

"Sarah totally recognizes Victor." I told Sibuna as we sat down during breakfast the next morning. "She was so terrified. She…" I glanced to make sure no one else was listening in. It was hard to, since no one else was in the room. "She said he killed them!"

"Her parents?" Fabian asked.

"That's all I can think of." I replied. "Then she started singing a lullaby and it just went weird."

"It's just too creepy to even think." Fabian said, "Victor alive when Sarah was a little girl."

"It's bad enough he's alive now." I muttered.

"Did she mention anything about the elixir?" he asked.

"Just the same 'tipping of the scales.' What should that even mean?" I complained. "What could–" I saw Victor come in and quickly changed the topic, "-possibly go wrong? Well, I'm glad you asked, because I can't get Anubis's characteristics right." Of course, first thing that comes to mind is the play. Great going, Mary Ann.

"Shouldn't you be getting to school?" Victor regarded. Without saying anything, we got up and left (though I managed to sneak a muffin with me).

_~ At school ~_

Class was about to start soon. Fabian said, "OK, so I've read every single line." He picked up the book about time-travel that he found underneath the stairs a few days ago. "I've looked for underlined passages, secret codes, false spine… but nothing."

"It hasn't got a clasp, for a start," Amber added, leaning over her desk. "Isn't that part of the clue?"

"Yeah… That as well." Fabian muttered. "It's just, the only place where yesterday always follows tomorrow."

Just then, a girl walked into the room. I didn't recognize her at first, but then I realized it was Mara! She looked totally badass! She wore dark leggings with black roses on them. She had leather boots on her feet. She straightened her hair and wore eyeliner and dark eye shadow. She was even chewing gum, which was against school rules. She looked amazing.

My jaw dropped. Fabian dropped the book. Everyone looked at her. She walked down the aisle to her seat, a swagger I've never seen in her now rising. She looked independent.

"I didn't see that coming." I laughed.

Mrs. Andrew decided to walk in at that moment. She stopped when she saw Mara. "Mara, are you chewing gum?" That's her question? Isn't she asking where the real Mara is? "Now, you of all people should know that chewing gum is not allowed in class. Get rid of it, please."

New Mara rolled her eyes and took the gum out of her mouth. When Mrs. Andrews had her back turned, I saw her stick it behind her ear.

Mrs. A started collecting homework assignments. Very anti-climactic. When she got to Mara, Mara said she hadn't done it.

"Okay, now who is she?" I asked to Fabian, now staring at the girl like she was crazy.

Mara gave Mrs. A some attitude. Our teacher responded by giving her detention. Mara was unaffected. Fabian was about to ask Patricia the question we were both thinking, but Patricia said, "Don't ask. I have no idea."

_~ Play Meeting ~_

"Tutankhamen's burial chamber lies just through there," Fabian recited. He held a fake lantern in his hand, a copy of the script in the other. Jerome stood next to him, also holding a script.

"I wonder what artifacts we will discover within." Jerome read. Note to self, fix it so it doesn't sound so cheesy.

"They enter the tomb." Mr. Winkler narrated. This is so embarrassing. Everyone is reading this. They probably think it's a bad act.

Jerome couldn't take it anymore and snickered.

"Guys." Winkler called them back. "Remember what I said, everyone. Constructive criticism." Fabian and Jerome sat on the stage. "So, let's hear what you like about these first few scenes."

"Drafted scenes." I added. "Incredibly, no-where-near-final scenes."

"Well, actually, it's a very accurate account of how Howard Carter and his team first broke into Tutankhamen's burial chamber." Fabian told me.

"Yeah, but it's a bit boring." Amber said. "Sorry, Mary."

"I know, and don't call me Mary." I replied.

"Shouldn't someone kiss someone or kill someone," Alfie asked. "Or something."

"OK, how can we help Mary Ann? Ideas, anyone?" Mr. Winkler asked around. "Anyone?"

There was a silence… then Jerome said, "Girls in bikinis."

The guys (minus Fabian and two others) pointed to him, while the girls were either amused or disgusted. I just blushed and scratched the side of my head.

"Alright, I'll just put down as a general wardrobe note." Winkler eyed him strangely. "Alfie, I think you said you wanted to see more action."

"And more of the stuff that Sarah told us." Amber said. I slapped her on the arm.

"Do I need to duct tape that mouth shut?" I growled softly.

"Who's Sarah?" Our teacher asked.

"Oh –" Fabian interrupted Amber before she could spill more.

"Basically she's a woman who works part-time at the museum." He lied.

"Yeah," I added, "She's a research assistant. And a tour guide."

"OK, what sort of stuff are we talking about here?" Winkler asked.

"Just things like plagues of locusts and stuff like that." Fabian lied.

"Sounds interesting," Winkler bought. "Mary Ann, why don't you go back to the museum and talk to this Sarah woman again."

"Totally. Sarah. From the museum." I looked at Amber when I said the last sentence.

"Alright, good session everybody. I'll see you all later." Jason Winkler dismissed us.

"Amber, I don't know what goes on inside your head." Patricia said.

"What did I do this time?" Amber complained. "I thought we were going to use Sarah's story to get a reaction from Victor?"

"Yeah, but we can't just announce to everyone! And they can't know she's still alive, or they might find out she lives down the road." I explained.

"Oh… sorry." Amber said innocently. "I'll do better."

"It's OK, Amber," Fabian assured her, "And you're kind of right, we do need more of Sarah's stuff in play. We just can't be too obvious about it."

"I think we have more pressing matters than the school play." Patricia noted.

"Oh, the riddle!" Fabian exclaimed. "I haven't been to the library yet."

"I was thinking more about the elixir." Patricia corrected.

"And yet we have no answers." Amber sighed. "Maybe I'm going to have to start thinking also."

"Don't hurt yourself." I mumbled. Patricia heard and laughed.

_~ Late at night ~_

**I sat against the wall, staring at the door. It's been silent for a really long time now. Mommy, when will you open the door? When will you smile at me, and laugh along with Daddy? It was just a joke… right? The man hadn't meant to be so rough. I'm a lot smaller than he is.**

**I fell asleep for I don't know how long. Suddenly there are sirens. I can hear them from outside. People are murmuring. There are lots of them. They're talking in English, but the words are too complex. "Para-mortem bruising" and "pre-adolescent" are the loudest words I hear. I'm so tired, but I manage to hit the door twice.**

**"Mary Ann…" a voice calls out to me.**

**The door opens.**

**"Mary Ann…" it calls again.**

**Light pours in.**

**"Please wake up."**

**But the people standing there aren't my parents.**

My eyes flashed open. Fabian stood over me. I breathed in and out to calm my raging heart.

"F-Fabian?" I whispered in a daze. "What–What are you fucking doing in here?" I sat up, self-consciously running my hand through my messed up hair.

"Er, it's Alfie. Jerome says he's in the cellar. Apparently he's been there for hours." Fabian said. His facial expression was serious. So serious, I didn't question it. I got a jacket from the floor and took my locket.

I didn't bother explaining to Jerome about the locket. He didn't ask. They were going to prank the 7th graders when Alfie realized he forgot his mask in the cellar when they were scaring us. He went in through the grate by the side of the house, but Victor caught Jerome outside, and was sent back in.

"Alfie? Alfie!" Jerome called out once we were in the cellar. He opened the wardrobe door, but he wasn't behind it.

"Alfie? Yoo-hoo?" I called out.

"Alfie?" Fabian called, worried. "He's not here" He concluded, "if you're messing around, Jerome, I swear–"

"I'm not!"

THUNK.

They went silent.

"What was that?" I asked. Fabian shushed me. I turned to a small cupboard. It was wide enough for a person to fit in… right?

"In the cupboard." Jerome stated. "Open the cupboard."

"No, you open the cupboard." Fabian argued.

"Boys, not now." I interrupted. I knelt down by the doors and pulled. I instantly wondered if this was how those people felt when they found me in the closet. A random knocking, open it up, oh wow! A little girl was in there.

Sure enough, there was Alfie. He was wearing a zombie costume, minus the head of course. He was curled up against the wall. The look on his face was of utter terror.

"Alfie!" Jerome immediately went to him.

"Help me…" Alfie muttered. He was trembling.

"Alfie, it's me… Alfie, it's me Jerome." He said.

"OK, we need to get him our of here." Fabian said. I took the flash light from him. He helped Jerome pull Alfie out of the cupboard. Alfie was breathing heavily. The boys had to have one of Alfie's arms over their shoulders to walk him to the way out.

"It's alright, baby," I said in a calm voice, despite the terror in my chest. "We're here to help. We'll get you out."

After a lot of guidance and help, we managed to get Alfie back into his bed. Fabian and I left him and Jerome alone in their room.

"Thanks for coming with us." Fabian told me in the empty hallway.

"You wouldn't have been able to go into the cellar without me anyways." I pointed out. "I've got to go. See you in the morning."

"It's already past one." He stated. I rolled my eyes.

"Then good morning to you. See you in a couple hours." I said, and scurried back to my room before Victor found out.

_~ TIME WARP ~_

I went downstairs, completely tired. I couldn't help but wonder what scared Alfie so badly last night…

Amber didn't seem to notice my quietness. She babbled on and on about some fashion thing.

Mick's sports gear had turned pink. And they've shrunk. Everyone laughed, including me. It was quiet funny. Apparently a red sock had snuck into the washer with all of his white clothing.

"I think pink might be your color." I laughed, but it sounded off. Mick only glared at me. I turned back to my muffin.

"Fabian…." Jerome said, standing in the doorway. He looked haggard, like he didn't sleep a wink last night. "I could use some help."

"Alfie." The Sibuna club said at once. We all got up and left.

"Is he alright?" Patricia asked as we walked in. Alfie laid in bed, zombie costume still on. He moved a lot. His eyebrows were scrunched up and he looked terrified. Beyond that, if possible.

"He still hasn't said anything." Jerome told us.

"He's scared," I said. "What do you think he saw?"

"Victor stuffing cats?" Amber offered. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Not helping, Amber." Fabian said.

I knelt by Alfie. He shrunk away from me instantly. "Hey, Alfie." I said in a soothing tone. "Alfie, you know whatever you saw down there? I've seen a million times worse. Trust me. Tell me what you saw." I placed a hand on his shoulder.

That was the worst idea possible. He stared to breath really heavily, like there was something caught in his windpipe.

"I saw…" he said, "I saw… I… I…" He couldn't breath. People were panicking. Fabian asked for water.

"Breath in, Alfie. Breath in, then out." I told him, freaking out. "It's all going to be OK." I took Patricia's bag and dug around. I took out the first bottle I saw, and handed it to him.

Alfie grabbed it and chugged it down. He started choking, gagging on it. His head hit the pillow. He looked about ready to pass out. Patricia came rushing in with a glass of water. I stared down at the bottle. Oh, dear… I gave him the elixir!

"Did you give him that?" Patricia asked in a panic.

I swore. "Why's it in your bag? I-I have to get someone!" I ran out of the room. Crap, crap, crap! I might have just killed Alfie!

Trudy was in the dining area. Mick was with her – dressed up in a yellow shirt with a kitten on it and some pink leggings, though I didn't have time to question it – but that didn't matter. "Trudy, hurry! Alfie's in trouble!" I said. She came running with me.

Alfie was still breathing, but it was slowing down. Trudy called an ambulance. They came within the minute almost, and took Alfie away on a stretcher with an oxygen mask over his mouth.

I started regretting everything I've ever done or sad that was bad to Alfie. I remembered my first day, when he called me space girl and thought I was an alien.

When the man in the bright yellow jacket carted him out of the house, I remembered my grandfather being carted away as well. Unlike last time, there was a siren on the ambulance.

"I'll go in the ambulance with him," Trudy said.

"I'll call his parents." Victor said. If not for the situation, I would have been creeped out by how they were working together.

"Is he going to be OK?" Amber asked.

"They think so, sweetie." Trudy replied. "But they did ask if he took anything."

"Like what?" Victor asked.

"I don't know, they just said something." Trudy said.

"He drank this." I said, handing her the orange bottle.

She sniffed it, and recoiled. "Oh, that doesn't smell too good." She remarked. "I'll take that with me."

Victor locked the door after Trudy left. "No one is to leave this house until I find out exactly what happened." He said.

And by that, he meant take us individually into his office to interrogate us. Fabian went first. Then Amber, then Mick, then Mara, and then me.

"Omigod, do you think I killed him?" I freaked when it was my turn. "Omigod, what if I kill him? What's going to happen, he'll be alright, right? I mean, I gave him the bottle not knowing what was in it. What if it was poisonous? What if he dies? Omigod, omigod."

Victor rubbed his eyes in annoyance, but then let me go without any answers.

After I was done with my interrogation, Sibuna met up in my room. I sat on my bed and hugged my knees to my chest.

"Why did you give him the elixir?" Patricia asked after shutting the door. "Now we've lost our proof!"

I sighed. "I like back ups. I've got a bit in here." I took out my precious box from under the bed and pulled out a small bottle before putting it back.

"Why didn't you say?" Patricia said, smiling even though Alfie was going to the hospital.

"Well done." Fabian commented.

"We should get rid of all of it." I said thoughtfully. "It brings nothing but trouble."

"No way," Patricia said, taking the bottle from me.

"But it put Alfie in the ER." I argued.

"I'll hide it somewhere better this time, OK?" Patricia promised.

"I just… I can't do this!" I yelled. I grabbed my bag and ran out of the room. Victor had unlocked the door, so I ran all the way to the school.

I hid in an empty classroom before the bell. I didn't know what to do, so I took out a piece of paper and started writing some scenes for the school play. I knew a scene that would match my feelings right at the moment…

_Sally was scared. She wasn't sure if the man with the black bird was watching. But she had to do this. Sally enters and locks the door behind her. Then she looks around the room._

No, what if the man with the bird is already in the room? I crossed over the paragraph.

_Sally had to do this. She had to escape from this prison to save her parents._

I crossed that out too. No personal attachments. No one will want to hang around with someone like me if they found out. I continued to write, but each time crossed it out because it never fit.

Eventually, I got mad and ripped up the paper. I sighed in frustration.

"Hey Shakespeare, how's it going?" Fabian asked, seeing me and walking into the classroom. "I hope you're doing better than I am with the latest riddle."

"It's all my fault that Alfie's gone." I said, ashamed and angered and frustrated with everything.

"No, no it's not." He said softly. "Patricia should never have left the bottle in her bag."

"Don't you get it?" I said in frustration, "I'm a stupid curse. I got the stupid locket, found the stupid cylinders, not to mention the stupid passageway to through the stupid oven." Not to mention my parents and grandfather... "I wish I could go back in time, turn down the stupid scholarship." And never open that door...

"No! Don't talk like that! Sarah chose you for a reason, Mary Ann." Fabian told me in a panicked tone. I just shook my head. If only he knew what the students back in America called me. I shoved the ripped paper into my bag.

Patricia and Amber came in. "So, Captain Mary Ann." Patricia greeted. "Fabian still hasn't solved the riddle, I still can't get hold of Rufus, Alfie's still in the hospital."

They paused. "Am I picking up some weird romantic tension in here?" Amber asked, commenting on the silence of me and Fabian.

"We're not like that, dammit!" I almost shouted. I turned to them. I'm sure my face was red with frustration and my eyes brimmed with tears. "I... I can't do this." I ripped the locket over my head. I shoved it into Fabian's hands.

"Sibuna." I said one final time. I placed my right hand over my right eye.

Then I took my bag and hastened out of the room.


	12. Returns

_Hey Internet, I know this is early but Mysteries of Anubis reached over a thousand views! So, to celebrate, I'm handing out the next chapter early. See you Tuesday. Enjoy!_

**CHAPTER TWELVE HOUSE OF RETURNS**

"Of course I should be the one to go, Alfie loves me!" Amber and Patricia battled it out – unfortunately in my room – to go see Alfie in the hospital. I attempted to drown them out with my iPod, but no matter how high I set the volume to, "Show Me What I'm Looking For" (by Carolina Liar) couldn't seem to block them.

"Amber, watch my lips. I am going to the hospital, not you." Patricia said.

"The only place where yesterday always follows tomorrow." I heard Fabian mutter in between songs. "What is it, what is it, what is it? I mean, what if it's not a book?"

"Yewouch!" I screeched, ripping the earphones from my ears. I ended up tossing my iPod across the room. I could here "Crushcrushcrush" by Paramore playing from it.

"Mary Ann, who do you think should go?" Amber asked as I rubbed my ears.

"Don't ask me, I think both of you seem like a bad idea." I commented. I got up to grab my iPod.

"Alfie needs someone to cheer him up, not to shout at him." Amber said. "And that's why I wore this lip gloss." The iPod must have fallen under the wardrobe.

"Who's going to be shouting?" Patricia argued. "I won't be shouting, Amber. I'll be interrogating him, that's all." Aha, got it out!

"Don't try to confuse me with your fancy words." Amber said.

"Uh, it's in the dictionary, Amber." Patricia and I noted.

"Under the 'I' section, since it's alphabetically listed." I added, "And one of the only places where 'dumb' comes before 'smart'. 'Hello' after 'goodbye'. And also 'tomorrow' before 'yesterday'." I turned down the volume on my iPod. I felt them all staring at me, and when I turned they were. "Uh…"

"The only place where yesterday always follows tomorrow!" Fabian said excitedly. Huh? Realization hit me. Oh, a dictionary! That's the answer to the clue! "A dictionary!" Fabian enveloped me in a hug and lifted me off my feet. I squealed from surprise. He spun around a bit saying, "You genius, genius, genius, genius girl!" He finally set me down. My cheeks burned.

"Uh…" I stammered, "So… yeah, I did that… I'm still out." I put the earphones in and played a random song. I sat on my bed.

"So the clue means your dictionary." Amber said. I sighed, unable to block them with music. Whoever said listening to music helps people ignore you, go back to school.

"Not mine," I explained, "A leather-bound dictionary with a clasp on it." I stuffed my iPod into my bag.

"Do you want to help me look for it, Mary Ann?" Fabian offered.

"Nope." I replied, but that didn't hide the hope in my voice. I was so excited. We were one step closer! No, I thought to myself, they were one step closer. I'm not in the gang.

"Mary Ann," Fabian said. I looked to him, and saw him presenting the locket to me. "Sarah gave this to you. Not me."

I looked at him. He was staring at me smugly, like he already knew I couldn't say no. I groaned and snatched the locket back. "I knew befriending you was bad." I muttered loudly, "I knew you would use your charm on me eventually."

Having the locket around my neck again made me feel whole. Ugh, I sound like a cheesy movie.

_~ Play Meeting ~_

After sneaking into the attic, finding a dictionary that matched the description, and making it back to the school only ten minutes late, Fabian and I entered the auditorium. Before we entered, though, he asked me something.

"I wasn't able to ask you earlier, with all that was going on…" Fabian started.

"Yeah?"

"But remember when you were talking to Alfie before he passed out?" I nodded. "What did you mean when you said 'I've seen a million times worse'?"

My heart skipped a beat. "I… I don't want to talk about it." I rushed into the auditorium.

Amber came up to us in a duck costume. She had a pretty yellow assortment of feathers clipped to her hair. "Well?" she asked.

"Why are you dressed like as a duck?" Fabian laughed.

"I'm a canary." Amber replied coolly.

"A canary dressed as a duck." Fabian said, like it made no sense… because it didn't.

Amber rolled her eyes, "Did you find anything?"

"It's not in English, since Mr. Thinker here though we should look for an Arabic dictionary." I told her. I showed her the book inside me bag and she squealed.

"Uh, what's with all the squealing?" Mr. Winkler asked from the stage. "Can we set up for Act One, please?"

"I don't think we can," Fabian said.

"I know. We don't have Alfie." Winkler said.

"Or Jerome." Fabian added.

"Or Patricia," I piped in.

"Or Mara." Mick said from the stage.

"Fantastic." Winkler said in frustration.

"We can always do my scene again." Amber offered.

"I suppose we'll have to." Winkler gave in.

"Mara's here. We can do our scene as well if you like." Mick announced.

By the end of the session, only Amber was able to rehearse. Mick pushed at Mara's buttons the wrong way and she ran off. Thanks, Mick.

_~ Back at House ~_

Amber, Fabian, and I sat around the dictionary on the floor in my room. We tried to open the dictionary, but the clasps were sealed shut. We used all sorts of tools: a pair of scissors, a pencil, a pocketknife, even a chainsaw (just kidding)!

Amber tried her super strong nail clipper. It just snapped. "Wow…" Amber muttered. "It's a super-power clasp."

"It's so stuck…" I mumbled. "Maybe the locket will work. It has opened lots of random crap before." I handed it to Amber (mostly because I was too lazy to do it myself).

She pushed the locket on the clasp. She pushed so hard her hands were trembling. "Don't hurt the locket!" I said, taking it from her. Then I added, "Or the book! You press gently." I pressed the locket against the clasp lightly. Immediately, the locket glowed red. Amber gasped. I removed the locket from the first clasp, which was glowing red by now, and pressed it against the other clasp. That one glowed red and I moved the locket out of the way.

The clasps flew opened with a suddenness it startled me.

"It only works for you." Amber noted. "Spooky."

"Let's open this baby up." I said. Fabian opened the cover and we found…

Nothing. There was a huge space where someone cut out the center of the page for the entire book. Something must have been there, but whatever it was, it was gone.

"Ugh…" I complained. "There's nothing."

Some music started to play. I looked at my phone and saw Out of Area.

"Be right back," I said, and went into the hall.

"Norton speaking." I stated into the receiver.

"Mary Ann, it's me. I need your help." Patricia's voice said. "I'm still at the hospital. Meet me by the bike shed with blankets and food. Got it?"

"Yeah, sure. What's this for?" I asked. The line was already dead. I shut my phone and walked back into the room.

"She hung up on me. I can't believe she hung up on me!" I stated, not really angry, more confused.

"Who was it?" Amber asked.

"Patricia." I said, "We've got to go. Grab a bag and a blanket."

They didn't question me until we were going downstairs.

"She didn't say why she needed help?" Fabian asked.

"She just said to bring food and blankets to the bike shed." I explained.

"Have either of you seen Patricia?" Jerome asked when he saw us coming downstairs. "She disappeared at the hospital. And I'm think I should tell Trudy."

"I don't think –" Fabian started.

"Well that's because –" Amber interrupted.

"She's visiting a friend." I lied. "He got accepted into a smartass school and they were throwing a party to celebrate. I'll pass on the message that you've been worrying."

Jerome shrugged. "Poor guy." He walked into the living room.

"You have got to stop lying," Fabian said while laughing. I rolled my eyes.

"At least I'm good at it." I said smiling. "Let's go."

_~ Meeting Patricia ~_

Patricia met us at the bike shed, but she led us to an old well. In there was none other than Rufus in a wheelchair! He was knocked out.

"You stole a patient?" Amber said in shock.

"Have you gone completely insane?" Fabian asked.

"Well, I couldn't leave him in the hospital, could I?" Patricia argued. "Not like this. It's just until he comes around."

"But what if he never does?" I asked the obvious question.

"He will." Patricia said, "He's looking more alert already."

"Oh, oh yeah." Fabian said sarcastically, "He should be piloting a plane."

"Well he was more alert in the taxi." Patricia said.

Amber stepped up to him. Before we could stop her, she slapped Rufus across the face and yelled, "Rufus wake up!"

"Calm down, Amber!" Patricia yelled. Rufus was definitely awake now, looking around in complete confusion.

"Where am I?" Rufus asked.

"You're welcome." Amber said to us.

"Shh." Patricia said, "It's OK. Rufus, it's Patricia. You're safe here."

"Patricia." Rufus recognized. "What happened?"

"We're not sure. We saw Victor kidnap you." Patricia explained.

"Y-Yeah…" he muttered.

"Then, then I found you at the hospital. You were, like, comatose. They must have done something to you."

"Or hit you too hard." I joked. No one laughed.

"Oh, I'm so tired…" Rufus muttered.

"Should I slap him again?" Amber asked. No one answered her, but I gave her a look. Patricia poured Rufus some tea from a thermos we brought.

"They must have thought you were getting close to finding Joy." Patricia conspired. "Or they never would have kidnapped you like that."

"Do you think they've hidden her somewhere? Like they did with you?" Amber asked.

"Oh, I am convinced that they have taken her, yes." Rufus confirmed.

"You said you thought Mary Ann's locket might be the key." Patricia said. I stared at her wide-eyed. I placed a hand over where the locket was under my shirt. "Mary Ann, why don't you show it to him?"

"Patricia!" Fabian whispered.

"So you're the girl with the locket?" Rufus asked, looking at me with interested. There was something more in his eyes than inquiry, but the rest of his face didn't show.

"The name's Mary Ann." I greeted. "Yo."

"May I see it?" he asked.

"No!" I said instantly, turning towards Fabian instinctively. I softened a bit. "Sorry… but I was told not to show it to anyone…" Under my breath, I added, "Though I kind of already broke that promise…"

"By Sarah Frobisher-Smythe." Rufus stated.

My eyes narrowed, "And if she did?"

"Oh, she's a friend of mine." He explained a little too quickly. "And you must give it back to her."

"I tried already." I mumbled.

"Why?" Fabian asked Rufus.

"Because the locket is cursed." Rufus explained.

"Cursed?" Amber asked in a scared voice. "What do you mean 'cursed'?"

"Oh, before Sarah had it, she was a wonderful and vibrant woman." He said. I remembered the dreamy look on Sarah's face when we talked about Rufus. Did they know each other… on a romantic level? That would be creepy, but I don't think it's illegal… "And you should never have taken it."

"She gave it to me." I said.

"She's a confused old woman who doesn't know what she was doing." Rufus laughed. Did I really just steal from an old woman? But… I had it in front of her the whole time. She never asked for it back. "I can give it back to her, if you like."

"No." Fabian and I said at the same time.

"Strictly speaking, the locket isn't yours." Rufus said in a scolding tone.

"Strictly speaking, it isn't yours either." Fabian said defensively.

"I meant what I said," Rufus told us. "The locket is dangerous. The all-seeing eye of Horus is an evil eye."

"I thought the Eye of Horus was an Egyptian symbol for protection." Fabian said, confused.

"But is it protecting good?" Rufus planted the seed of doubt, "Or evil?" I glowered at him.

"I don't have to listen to this." I said, and stormed out of the well.

_~ The next day ~_

Alfie was coming back from the hospital, so we all planned to surprise him. Everyone hid behind doors and walls in the living room, each armed with a party popper.

He walked in with Trudy. Jumping out, we all yelled "SURPISE!" and popped the poppers. Then we started singing "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow".

We complimented him, Jerome talked about the costumes for the play ("and our camel suit is AWESOME!") and everyone dispersed.

At school, we looked at the dictionary. "Anything?" I asked Fabian, who was looking at it.

"Nothing since you asked me ten seconds ago." He laughed.

I took a small flashlight from my bag. "Use this. Maybe it's so old that we can't see anything." He nodded, and Patricia came rushing in.

"Rufus is gone." She announced. "I can't believe it! He was my only connection to Joy!"

"And there's nothing in the silly dictionary." I added.

Patricia calmed down and sat next to us. "I think whatever was in there is long gone."

"She's right," Fabian said, glancing at me, "There's nothing." Just then I saw a spark.

"Whoa, what was that?"

"What?"

"I saw something." I took his hand and moved it. Just like that, a message appeared.

"It's invisible ink!" Fabian exclaimed. "The heat from the torch must be making it appear!"

"What's it say?" Patricia asked.

"Boo-yah, new clue!" I declared.

"Under the eyes of Horus, a globe and hollow lie. Two right for eternity but just one left to die." Fabian read.

"The panel in the attic is hollow." I guessed, "Not to mention there's an eye of Horus there."

"That's not the only one…" Fabian said mysteriously.

_~ MIDNIGHT ~_

I snuck downstairs at midnight. Fabian was waiting at the base of the stairs with a flashlight.

"Mary Ann," he whispered. "I've been thinking. It's 'eyes', not 'eye'."

"OK?" I whispered back.

"Yeah, under the eyes of Horus, a globe and hollow lie. Eyes. It's not in the attic. I think it might be somewhere in here. In the hallway. Something globe-shaped." He started to look around the hallway.

I sighed at his obliviousness. I pointed to the sphere on the handrail. "Ahem?" He just smiled. "The only problem is which one." I pointed to the other sphere across from the one I was standing next to.

"I don't know." He said. He handed me the flashlight and knocked lightly on one of the spheres. Didn't sound hollow to me. He moved to the next one.

Knock, knock, knock.

It was hollow. I grinned. "It must be the hollow one." Fabian said in amusement. "OK, two right for eternity. But just one left to die. What do you think that means?"

"Turn it to the right twice, and you get closer to the elixir of Eternal Life. But if you turn left, it locks and the secret is locked forever?" I guessed.

Fabian took a breath. "Fingers crossed. One to the right." He took hold of the sphere and twisted it to the right. It made a loud creaking noise, but it moved nonetheless. I smiled again. "Two." He moved it again. Something clicked. He lifted it up, and the sphere came up like a cork to reveal a small object hanging off it by a hook. I nabbed a small paper that remained in the podium.

"Oh wow." I commented to the object. "That's some weird looking thing."

"What do we have here?" Fabian asked smugly.

"Yes," Victor asked. I jumped ten feet. I looked up the staircase to see our creepy caretaker descending it. How long has he been there? "What have you got there?" He walked down and held out a hand. "Give." Fabian handed it to him without a word.

"I shall decide upon your punishment in the morning, now get to your beds immediately." He moved a little to the side to make room for me. I shared a last look with Fabian before scurrying up the stairs. Before I went through the doors, I looked back at Victor. He looked at the object. I heard him say "it's not possible" as he stared at it with disbelief.

"NO!" he shouted angrily. I ran through the doors.


	13. Plays

_Hello. Crazy chapter, wasn't it? What could the strange piece be?_

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN HOUSE OF PLAYS**

Mr. Winkler clapped twice. "OK guys, time to focus! It's the big night tomorrow." Please don't remind me… For some reason, I was nominated to play the main character, Sally. Or better know as Sarah. "Dress rehearsal, five minutes."

I was telling Patricia and Fabian what I heard last night. "Then he shouted, like he was shocked. It was really weird."

"Victor definitely put the puzzle piece in his safe. I crept back up and saw him do it." Fabian said.

"Then we do some safe-breaking." I concluded.

"No, how can we? He'd know it was us." Fabian said.

"Heheheh… what if we have the perfect alibi?" I said, an idea popping into my head. "Like a theatrical I came up with?"

"But I don't understand!" Amber cried desperately. We all turned to see her arguing with Mr. Winkler. "Why can't the cactus sing?"

"Because cacti can't speak, Amber." Winkler said.

"And anyways you've got a terrible voice." Jerome said from inside the camel costume next to them.

"No she hasn't," Alfie argued. "Take no notice, fair cactus."

"OK Everyone!" Winkler called everyone together. "Let's get on with it!"

"I have to admit," I told Fabian when Patricia left to find her costume. "This production came out greater than I thought it would."

"You did great." Fabian said. I left to go change into my costume for the first time.

I came out wearing a dress (and I hate dresses) and a hat. I was also wearing leather boots. The dress was a pale yellow, which made my hair look like fire, and it had a fitted bodice and a semi-full bell-shaped skirt that came from the waistline down to my calf. The sleeves were simple enough, long enough to reach a bit past my wrists. It made me feel like a Laura Croft version of Cinderella.

I found Fabian in a flash. He was wearing a suit jacket and a black tie. He had a white apron and black trousers and black shoes. He was assigned the antagonist, whom was Vincent. He represented Victor, obviously.

"Nice," I said, giving him a thumbs up. "C'mon, I'll draw your facial hair."

He looked at me, a bit surprised at first, but then he smiled. "You look nice, Mary Ann." He told me. I curtsied.

"Wipe that grin off your face, Rutter." I teased. "Don't get used to me in dresses."

"Whatever, Norton." He teased right back. "But seriously, you look amazing."

"I've always wanted to draw on your face," I admitted when I got a marker. I made him sit down on the stage and close his eyes. "I would never have thought it would be under these circumstances." I uncapped the marker and drew a vertical line above his lip. He chuckled. Line, line, line. A few lines later, Fabian had a mustache. I drew some lines on his chin.

"There you go, you look like an actual man now!" I announced. He opened his eyes. Lost in the blues of his irises for a strange moment, I fantasized what would happen if I kissed him. I blushed. Why the hell are you thinking that, Mary Ann?

"Ha ha, very funny." He said sarcastically.

"I know." I smirked. I put the marker away and everyone took his or her place for the play.

_~ After Rehearsal ~_

We even practiced the bow. Soon enough rehearsal was over. We went through the entire thing without messing up.

"OK guys," Winkler said after the bow. "Well done." Everyone stepped off the stage.

"So, hit us with this insane plan, then, Mary Ann." Fabian said when he, Patricia and I stepped away from the others.

"So Vicky's coming to play." I told them. "No one will be at the house. After the first few scenes, I don't come on until the second act. I've got half an hour to sneak out, steal the piece, and sneak back before I'm needed."

"Brilliant." Fabian commented.

"Sibuna." I said, doing the gesture.

"Sibuna." Fabian did the same.

"Um, aren't you forgetting something?" Patricia asked.

"Hmm?"

"The code into Victor's safe?" Patricia pointed out. I rolled my head back.

"Aw, man. I totally forgot about that!" I groaned.

"Alfie, Jerome!" Winkler yelled. "What exactly are you doing?"

The camel convulsed. "Get a move on, I'm sweltering in here." Jerome's voice said.

"I can't the zipper's stuck!" Alfie's voice responded.

"Oh no, they're stuck!" I laughed. The three of us left to change out of our costumes.

_~ Back at the house ~_

It felt good to be in jeans and an old sweatshirt again. Poor Alfie and Jerome were stuck in the camel, and Trudy needed to get her sowing kit out to help!

Amber and I were laughing as we watched them struggle.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Patricia asked Fabian, who was sitting down with his eyes closed.

"Shh, shh. I'm trying to remember something." He said. We sat next to him. His eyebrows furrowed and his fingers twitched. All of a sudden, his eyes opened. "Pen and paper, quick!" he said. I pulled my notebook out and snatched a pen.

He started to draw something. Trudy freed Jerome and Alfie from their "feline jail" and Alfie sprinted for the bathroom. I watched him run, panicking all the way.

Fabian drew boxes with numbers. "OK, he pressed the top right one twice, the middle one once, and the bottom left one… one, I think."

"You only think?" Amber repeated.

"We need to know definitely." Patricia said.

"Lay off, he's gotten this much." I said defensively.

"Mary Ann, you can't do this." Patricia said to me.

"Sarah is depending on me with the treasure." I said. "I can't let Victor just take it from me."

Fabian put the pen down. He showed me the notebook. "It's 3-3-5-7." He said confidently.

"Well, Amber and I are going to go work on an assignment." Patricia said. She took Amber by the arm and they left the room.

"So what now?" I asked him.

"I don't know." He replied.

"Want to play a video game?" I asked. I took out my iPod and waved it. He smiled.

"Sure." We went over to the chairs. After a few minutes of playing various games that I had, we settled for an unnamed one. He sat in the chair and I sat on the armrest.

"No, you've got to double jump!" Fabian warned.

"OK, OK!" I said. "No, no, no! Aw man." The screen restarted.

"You just died." Fabian laughed. I groaned and fell sideways so I was lying across his lap.

"I'm dead now." I muttered, curling into a ball against him. He just laughed again.

"Someone to see you, Fabian." Trudy said, coming into the living area. I looked to see Mr. Aide Rutter, his uncle. He helped us a while back when we needed to find out what the cylinders were for. I got off Fabian's lap and we both stood up.

"Ah, there he is." Aide declared. Fabian smiled at him. "My favorite nephew." He looked at me, then back to Fabian. "Are you two stepping out yet?"

I smiled simply. "No, I've still got some homework to finish. So this is a school after all." Trudy was trying not to laugh. When I looked at Fabian, I got the impression his uncle didn't mean going outside.

Fabian's cheeks were bright red. "No! No, we're not." He told his uncle.

"Shame, I like this one." His uncle scolded. He pointed to me. "She has cheek. And a good appetite." I simply smiled again, not sure if he was complimenting me or not.

"Well, I might as well give you this while I'm here." His uncle went on. He handed Fabian an old book. It had the eye of Horus on it and it read "UNLOCKING THE EYE". "You never know when it might be some help with your schoolwork."

"Unlocking the eye." Fabian read. "Ah, thank you, Uncle Aide."

"I found it in a dusty corner," he explained. "Myths and legends, mainly, but should make an interesting read, nevertheless."

"Would you like a cup of tea, Mr. Rutter?" Trudy offered.

"Please, call me Aide." He said, "That would be lovely. White, no sugar. I'm sweet enough." Was it just me or was he flirting with our housemother? Trudy blushed and laughed. I looked at Fabian, who was still a bit red in the face.

What did 'stepping out' mean? And why did Fabian deny it so quickly?

_~ The next morning ~_

"Today's the day." Patricia said cheerfully.

"Oh my, I'm so nervous I don't think I can eat." I said. "Oh who am I kidding?" I sat down and took a big chunk out of some toast.

"Lots of good luck cards in the post this morning." Alfie stated, placing the whole pile of letters in the middle of the table. Everyone picked around. I got a card from Gran, telling me to break a leg but not really. "I don't want company in the hospital," she wrote. I laughed. It made some of the butterflies go away.

"And, yes." Alfie said disappointed. "My folks are coming."

"Aren't you going to open yours, Patricia?" Fabian noticed.

"It says 'Open in private only'." Patricia said.

"Don't be shy, maybe it's a postcard from Joy!" Alfie said. He made a grab at it, but Patricia slapped his hand away.

"Touch, and lose a hand. I swear it." She threatened.

_~ TIME WARP TO THE PLAY ~_

"Oh dear, oooooh dear." I said. I fanned myself with my hand. "I'm so-o-o-o nervous." I confided in Fabian.

"You'll be fine." He assured me. "You were great during rehearsal."

"But I just saw the poster for our play. It's says 'WRITTEN BY MARY ANN NORTON'!" I said, "Why didn't anyone tell me we had a poster? I would have bought a copy! And then the next volume of this manga I'm reading came out but I haven't got it yet –"

"Mary Ann?" Fabian interrupted, eyebrow raised at me.

"Sorry, I babble when I'm nervous some times." I explained. "I've never performed in front of a crowd before."

Fabian placed a hand on mine. "You'll do fantastic. I promise." I smiled.

He took out the book his uncle gave him. "I think I may have found something." He flipped through the pages, "It's a story Tutankhamen's secret lover, Amneris." He found the page. "Here, here. Read this." He handed the book.

"Before Tutankhamen's death, the god Anubis entrusted Amneris with the Cup of Ankh – the cup of immortality." I read aloud. I flipped to the next page. "When the Elixir of Life is drunk from the Cup of Ankh, it grants immortality to all who sup from it. In the wrong hands, it could lead to tyranny, despots and all out war. Legend has it that Amneris buried the Cup of Ankh with her lover, inside Tutankhamen's tomb, where she hoped it would remain hidden forever. But there are some who believe that the Cup was found and removed from the time of the tomb's excavation in 1922!" I looked at Fabian. "So the treasure is the Cup?" He nodded. "That would explain why Sarah was so desperate."

"5 minutes!" Mr. Winkler called out. Fabian and I peered behind the curtain at the audience.

"There's Victor." Fabian pointed out.

"This could be a mistake." I started having second thoughts, "Telling the story of the girl he ruined. I guess it's too late now…" I noticed someone in the crowd. "Hey, it's Uncle Aide!" I looked around. I could've sworn I saw Rufus. "Oh dear God." I said. "I think that's…"

"What's Rufus doing here?" Fabian asked. So he was here as well…

"Guys, focus, please!" Winkler was calling directions.

"Sorry!" I called back. Patricia came to us. She played Anubis. She wore a black dress and cape. A jackal mask was to cover her face. She held an Egyptian-styled staff in her hand.

"You know that good luck card I got this morning?" she asked. I nodded. She handed it to Fabian.

"D4?" he read. "What does that mean?"

"I was really hoping you would know." She admitted.

"Maybe the secret message from Rufus." I guessed.

"Why would you say that?" she asked.

"He's in the crowd." I informed her.

"What?!" she freaked. "Is he insane? What if Victor sees him?" She walked over to the curtain and peered by.

"Maybe it's a seat number." I suggested. "Row D, seat 4. I don't know."

"No, Rufus is in row G." Patricia said.

"Well, who's D4?" I asked.

"Patricia, places for curtains up." Winkler interrupted. He shooed us off stage.

The curtains pulled back, but Mick and Mara weren't onstage! Patricia turned around. I scanned the crowd for D4. There was someone in a hoodie and beanie, but I didn't recognize her. Patricia did though.

"Joy!" she cried. She quickly realized her mistake, but she didn't know what to say.

My mind reeled. Joy was in the audience? This so-called Joy that had disappeared when I appeared, and made Patricia hate me for quite some time, was in the audience right now? What was she doing here?

"Um…" Patricia muttered. "Joy." She repeated, not looking at the girl. "Joy… Joy and sorrow!" she finally said. "The… joy of Egypt. Its… monarch Tutankhamen is… dead. And sorrow sweeps the land. Let no man enter and desecrate his sacred pyramid." She came offstage. There was applause.

"Good improvisation." I whispered. She nodded.

"Let's try to stay on script this time," Winkler advised. "OK?" She nodded again.

A narrator said that some time had past since the death of King Tut. The music changed and I knew my time was up. Fabian gave me a thumbs up.

I walked onstage. "My name is Sally." I said to the audience. "I am seven years old. The time has come, my story shall be told. I feel only sorrow, like a bird without wings." I held my hands together against my chest. "My parents are leaving for the Valley of the Kings."

I tipped my hat forward a bit. "They named our house Anubis, after the god of the afterlife. It hurts to say the name, like being slit by a knife. Tutankhamen's death was over three thousand years ago. But Father likes to dig in the earth, going so very low.

"Mother says they won't be gone for too long. She sings me a soothing song. But they're leaving me alone again, with HIM to play with Lewis chessmen. Someone, please help me! I'm feeling so alone." I hugged myself. "The things he does below the house, it shakes me to the bone."

Mick and Mara enter the stage. They are both dressed like archaeologists. "Mummy, Daddy, no!" I cried.

"Our work is very important," Mick told me. He stood on my left while Mara stood on my right. "We must go. Goodbye, Sally." He kissed me on the cheek. I pretended to wipe a tear away. Mara kisses me on the other cheek, and pats my head.

They walked off as I said, "Please… Please don't leave me!" I covered my face in my hands and made weeping noises. I peered at the crowd through my fingers. Some people in the crowd are tearing up.

Fabian walked on stage as Vincent. Alfie, dressed as a snake, comes in dancing. Fabian is holding a bird doll. "This house belongs to us now, my pretty," Fabian announced. He looks to Alfie and holds up a fake rat. He laughs and feeds it down the mouth of the snake costume. Alfie makes chewing noises and then burps loudly. The audience laughed.

Fabian pulled out a pocket-watch. "It's is ten o'clock." He tells me. I shrink back. "You know what that means." I heard Trudy make a laughing noise. "You have five minutes to get into bed, do you hear?"

"Yes Vincent." I replied, and ran offstage.

Once I was out of sight, I heard Fabian say, "Because I want to be able to hear a pin drop." Some of the people laughed. He dropped the pin he should have pulled out, because the background music played the sound of a pin dropping. He laughed and walked offstage.

I zipped up my jacket. I would have left earlier, but I lost my flashlight. It was dark out there, and I needed a light to see where I was going.

"Mary Ann, you don't have to do this." Fabian whispered when he came offstage.

"Yeah, I do." I replied. "Our search is oh-va if I don't rescue the piece."

"I'll come with you." He offered.

"You can't," I told him, "You know that." I was about to leave when he stopped me.

"Mary Ann," he said slowly, stalling. "Be careful, yeah?"

"Always have." I smiled. Then I left.

I managed to make it to the house within five minutes. I really hated these shoes!

I shut the door behind me and ran up the stairs. The clock in the hallway started to chime. I snuck into his office. "Alright," I muttered as I rounded the desk to the safe.

"The code is 3-3-5-5-7-7." I remembered. 'Bop, bop, bop, bop' the machine went as I hit the buttons.

"Please be right, Fabes." I whispered. I hit the door handle.

It wouldn't budge.

"Oh God. OhGodOhGodOhGod." I said, "No!" I hit some random buttons. Nope, obviously. I hit the code Fabian gave me. Still no luck.

Long shot, I thought, but maybe Victor wrote down the code somewhere? I went to his desk and rummaged around. No written code, but I found a bronze coin with my name engraved on it. I found some more coins, each with a different name, but all of the names were of someone in the house.

I suddenly heard the front door slam from downstairs. I froze. Oh, crap! What if it's Victor? I shoved the coins back and ducked by the desk. The person started to come up the stairs. They opened the door to the office. Shit!

I ducked lower and started to breathe very slowly.


	14. Thieves

_Whoa, crazy cliffhanger. Sorry to leave you like that! So, Valentine's Day passed... and I'm still single! (T-T) Wish me luck, though I don't know why. Anyways, enjoy! I promise explanations (about Mary) in the next chapter, just wait!  
_

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN HOUSE OF THIEVES**

My heart raged. I breathed so slowly I couldn't even hear myself.

I heard them close the blinds. Great, no witnesses. I am going to die.

I started to crawl to the other side of the desk to remain unseen. I saw Victor crouch by the safe. Oh, now I can find the code!

He pressed 3 twice, then 5 once, and finally seven once. Oh, the code was four-digits.

He opened the safe. The door blocked my view. Victor placed a metal box in there, and fortunately took out the puzzle piece. Weird thing, though, was that he had two puzzle pieces, both of them identical.

He got up and moved towards his chair. I moved opposite of him.

"Why are there two, Corbiere?" I heard Victor talk aloud. He talks with his stuffed raven? And people thought I was weird. "I thought this was the one and only."

Suddenly, the phone rang. He picked it up. He paused.

"In the audience?" Victor asked. "Don't worry, I shall eliminate the target for good this time." He hung up. Oh my word, what was he going to eliminate. Wait… Joy was in the audience. Does he mean kill her?

He put the puzzle pieces into the safe and locked it. Then he left the office.

I didn't move until I heard the sound of the front door slam shut. I punched in the code, and thankfully the stupid safe opened, and snatched both of the pieces. I shoved them into my bag with one hand and slammed the safe door closed with the other. I need to get back!

I ran out of the house. I ran into the set.

"I'm here!" I announced loud enough for only the people offstage to here. Fabian looked like I came back from death or something. "I went to the bathroom and my period started and I couldn't find a pad…" I trailed off, knowing no one would want to pick up on the conversation.

"Mary Ann!" Fabian gave me a hug. "Oh, I was so worried!"

"Evidently, Fabian." Winkler said quickly. What was he so rushed for? I still had like 5 minutes. He called Amber and the Camel Twins (aka Alfie and Jerome) offstage. Patricia informed me that the canary scene was cut. Oh, that would make sense. Fabian let go.

"Mary Ann, you literally have 3 seconds." Winkler informed me. I stripped off my jacket and bag.

"Did you get it?" Patricia asked.

"Victor's gonna eliminate someone in the audience tonight." I said instead. "And I don't mean like on So You Think You Can Dance."

"What?" Fabian said, "How do you know?"

I shoved my hat on my head "Mary Ann, get on stage, now!" Winkler demanded. I took a deep breath and stepped into sight of the audience. They were still laughing because Jerome and Alfie had just gotten offstage, but when they saw me they quieted.

Sad music started to play. Mara and Mick staggered on stage. I smiled greatly.

"Mother! Father!" I cried joyfully. "You're home! What has happened on your travels?" Mara and Mick fell to the floor. "Oh no…. I'll… I'll go fetch a doctor." I ran offstage. Patricia and Fabian took my place. Fabian was wearing a crow mask, and Patricia was holding some paper and a bottle.

"End it, my servant. They deserve to die. You will be richly rewarded." Patricia said. Fabian knelt next to the fallen.

"I can see the raven," Mara said. "My end is near." She looked to Mick and took his hands. "Let me hold you in my arms one last time and seal your lips, the gateway to your soul, with a single kiss." They shared a brief kiss, and then both laid onto the floor. Fabian stood up again.

"The curse of Anubis has come true." Patricia said. "This is your reward." She handed him the paper and bottle.

"What is this?" Fabian asked.

"Whoever follows the instructions precisely will receive the gift of eternal life." she replied dramatically.

"The elixir of life," Fabian repeated in simpler terms. "Is it really mine?" Patricia nodded and Fabian uncorked the bottle. He drank it completely (it was only soda).

Immediately, he started to choke. "I can't breathe!" he gasped. "What is it? What have you done?"

"Your soul belongs to me now!" Patricia announced. She laughed and Fabian sprawled onto the floor. Patricia left the stage.

I'm sure the audience was having mixed feelings by now. Even though Vincent killed Sally's parents, no one deserved to die like that.

I did a mini-sprint onstage. "Mummy! Daddy!" I cried. I shook Mara's shoulder a little. I looked to Fabian on the floor. "What have you done?" I wiped the invisible tear from my eye as I yelled at him. "I know you're behind this!" Upon further inspection, Sally realized that Vincent was dead. "Oh… oh no! He's dead!" I screamed. I looked at him in horror, then back to my parents.

After a moment, I stood up and faced the audience. Let's finish this. "My name is Sally. I am seven years old." I stepped over Fabian and stood at the very end of the stage. "The truth has been heard. My story has been told. My parents' adventure has brought us only strife. The curse of Anubis has forever changed my life." I dipped my head and the curtain pulled in front of me. I heard the audience cheer from the other side.

The cast all poured onto the stage. The curtain pulled back and we all bowed. The audience stood.

"Joy, run quick!" Patricia suddenly cried. The person that sat in D4, whose disguise fell off to reveal a girl my age with brown hair, ran on to the stage and then ran towards the back exit.

Rufus made a grab at her, but she slipped past. Victor ran up the aisle and had a stare down with Rufus. He then pushed past us after Joy. Mr. Sweet attempted to get Rufus, but Rufus pushed him down and stalked out of the auditorium.

Mr. Sweet apologized and came onstage. "Thank you, thank you everyone." He said, "A special thank you to the wonderful students of our school, and to the Drama teacher, mister Jason Winkler." Mrs. Andrews stood up and walked down the aisle. "Another special thank you to –" Rufus came back in, shoved Mrs. A out of the way and onto the stage. He took Patricia by the shoulders and whispered something to her. Then he shoved off the same way Victor and Joy went.

Mr. Sweet lied to the audience, saying it was an overenthusiastic fan. We bowed and the audience started to leave.

"Where are you going?" Fabian asked Patricia, who was about to go somewhere.

"To find Joy," she explained. "She's in danger." She ran off.

"Do you think she'll be OK?" I asked Fabian.

"Knowing Patricia… Yeah." He said.

"Alright," I said, trusting his opinion. "I'm going to get out of this dress. Later, Rutter." I walked to the dressing rooms.

In a few minutes, I was exiting through the stage. Man, I love jeans and t-shirts. Fabian was there.

"Ah!" Trudy called out from the other side of the room. "Mary Ann! Fabian!" She came over, Uncle Aide following.

"Oh, oh my lovelies!" she said. "You did amazing!"

"Aw, thanks Trudy." I smiled.

"Yes, truly magnificent!" Uncle Aide complimented. "And you wrote it?"

I blushed. "Uh, yeah. But Amber came up with a general plot line. And I had help doing the research." I smiled at Fabian. He blushed.

"Very well written," Uncle Aide said. "And your acting skills are amazing as well."

"Shouldn't she get an agent?" Amber piped in, entering and leaving the conversation just as quickly.

"Thanks." I blushed deeper. "But I knew the script by heart, so it wasn't very hard." Wanting to get out of the spotlight, I took Fabian's hand. "Hey, do you know where I could by a poster?" I dragged him off. He said a swift goodbye to his uncle before we both disappeared.

I took a deep breath. "Glad that's over." I said.

"You don't like talking to people?" Fabian asked.

"No, taking compliments." I replied. "It feels weird, and I keep blushing all the time."

"OK, so why did you take so long to get back from the house?" Fabian changed the subject. As we roamed through the hallways of our school, I told him about how the code didn't work (which he unnecessarily apologized for), Victor walking in, and all that.

"So Victor had another puzzle piece in his safe this whole time?" Fabian said when I finished.

"Which he thought was the one and only." I said. "Maybe the pieces are more than simply clues."

"One thing is for certain," Fabian said grimly, "he's going to go ballistic when he realizes they're gone."

"I think he's already going nuts because of our play." I told him. Patricia suddenly appeared.

"I've looked everywhere for Joy," Patricia told us, "What if Victor caught her and murdered her?"

"Don't assume anything!" I said, "He never said he'd kill Joy."

"Yeah, maybe he meant Rufus. He was in the audience too." Fabian added.

"Well that's just as bad." Patricia said. "I'm going to start taking this personally."

"Roofy's safe," I deduced, "We all saw him go out the back."

"Oh no, what's the time?" Patricia asked. I glanced at my watch.

"Nearly 8." I said.

"He'll be waiting for me, I have to go!" Patricia brushed past us and sprinted out of the halls.

Fabian and I went back to the party before anyone could miss us. "I really, really worried about Patricia." Fabian said. I got some punch, "We should've stopped her."

"Are you talking about Patricia Williamson? Because there is no stopping her when she's on a roll." I teased. We sat on the stage next to Amber. I noticed Victor and Mrs. Andrews talking to Mr. Winkler. Every once in a while, I saw Victor look at me.

"Vicky keeps staring at me with his creepy, pointy face." I said. I moved so my back was turned to the teachers. "Do you think he knows?"

"Know what?" Amber asked absentmindedly.

"That I've stolen the piece!" I whispered.

"No," Fabian said, "not yet. He hasn't been back to the house. I think that's just his usual look." He tried, and failed miserably, to imitate Victor. It was cute, so I giggled to make him feel better.

After a few minutes, the party ended. Everyone left the school. Fabian and I returned to the house and went in Fabian's room. I dialed Patricia's number.

"Hello?" her voice called.

"Don't 'hello' me!" I snapped irritated. "It's Mary Ann. Are you alright?"

Her voice was playfully cheery. "Oh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be OK?"

"Let's see, you disappeared for over an hour and didn't ever show up at the party." I said, "Where are you?"

"We're going to meet Joy," Patricia explained. "I'm with Rufus." There was a short "HEY!" before the line went dead.

"Patricia?" I called hopelessly. "Patricia? TRIXIE!" I looked at my phone, and then shut it. "The line went dead. Weird."

"I'm sure she just ran out of battery." Fabian said, assuring himself more than me.

"Yeah," I rationalized. "Yeah, probably. She sounded fine. She said she's meeting Joy, apparently."

"Oh! I totally forgot to tell you!" Fabian exclaimed. "The writing on Patricia's card, it was mirrored writing. It was a secret message from Joy asking to meet her."

"That's quite big to forget, Fabian!" I teased. "Maybe Joy has answers to our questions!"

I couldn't quite shake the feeling, however, that something was very wrong.


	15. Histories

_Where ever could Trixie have gone? I really don't like homework, keeping me from doing cool things like writing stories... This chapter is dedicated to __**ChosenOne00**__ because they were the first to ask me what the hell is up with Mary Ann's past. And here is your answer. I am so cruel to my characters... (=-=) Enjoy!_

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN HOUSE OF HISTORIES  
**

I stared blatantly at my toast. I hadn't seen Patricia yet. Was she OK?

"That look on Victor's face was all the confirmation we needed." Fabian told me as he sat down.

"Yeah, but now he knows we know." I said, jarring out of my worrying. "So we need a plan to get him to think we don't know he knows we know, but we'll really know."

Before he could say anything to make it less confusing, Mara came up to us. Her eyes were slightly puffy, like she had been crying. "Have any of you seen Patricia?" she asked.

"She didn't come home last night?" I asked, worried.

"No, Trudy said she went out an aunt and uncle after the play, but I thought she should be back by now." Mara told me.

"Are you alright, Mara?" Fabian asked.

"No, I need to talk to Patricia." Mara said.

"You can talk to me, if you want." I offered.

"No, I can't." She stalked out of the room.

"Trouble in paradise." Amber shrugged.

"Sorry?" Fabian asked.

"Her and Mick. They were boyfriend and girlfriend for all of one hour and then they broke up." Amber explained.

"Why? I thought they liked each other." I said thoughtfully.

"Who knows," Amber said.

"Where's Patricia is a better question." I said, changing the subject. "Where could she be?"

"Hopefully with Joy and not with Rufus." Fabian said.

"I thought he was one of the good guys." Amber protested. "OK, it's impossible to keep track. We need a newsletter."

"I just hope she's OK…" I whispered.

Within the next five minutes, the rest of the house came in. Except for Mara and obviously Patricia.

After a while, Amber said, "You're awfully quiet Mick."

"Am I?" Mick said absentmindedly.

"Trouble in Maradise?" she asked. I started laughing. "Wow, that was so clever! Get it? Mara-dise."

"Ingenious." Mick said with fakeness. "None of your business." He got up and walked out. Jerome commented, but I didn't care.

"So…" I changed the subject, "Your 'rents still here, Alfie?"

"They leave tonight." Alfie said. "Actually, there's something I wanted to ask you guys…" I smiled at him patiently. "I sort of got a bit carried away last night and I may have led my parents to believe that I've been promoted to, well, Head of House."

"Aw, congratulations!" Amber said. She then hesitated, "Oh wait, we don't have a Head of House."

"That's true, so it's not exactly a lie, now is it." Alfie said, "So I was wondering, when they come 'round, if you guys could, you know, like–"

"Bow down and kiss your feet?" Jerome suggested.

"Yeah, exactly!" Alfie concluded. I rolled my eyes.

"I'll play along with your silly game," I told him, "but I will not bow, or kiss you feet. I don't know where you've been." Everyone including Alfie started to laugh.

Mick suddenly came back into the room, Victor tailing behind.

"Here we go." Fabian muttered to me. I sighed with anxiety.

"Sit down." Victor said to whoever was still standing.

"Is this about the play?" Fabian asked innocently. Victor looked down his nose at him.

"Do you think I'm here to give you a review?" he asked back.

"I don't know, are you?" I asked sweetly. He ignored me.

"Your juvenile fantasies are of no concern to me whatsoever." He told us, walking around the dining room table. "I am here because a serious theft has taken place. Items of great value were removed from my safe last night." He suddenly leaned very close to Fabian. "Are you responsible?"

Fabian looked him in the eye. "No."

"You?" Victor turned on me, full on glaring. I had to shrink back.

"Why do you think it was any of us?" Fabian defended. Victor looked at him. "The school was full of people last night…" he explained. "When were they taken?"

"Well," Victor stood straight. "They were there during the intermission. The only other time I was away from my room was during the second half of your irritating little play."

Harsh, I thought. Not that your opinion matters, but still harsh.

"There you go," Fabian said. "We were all onstage."

"Yeah," Amber said nonchalant. "It couldn't have been any of us. We were performing. The show must go on and all of that."

Victor gave us a weird smile. "Of course." He said, "Of course. How very, very remiss of me. Very well, off to school, all of you. Go." He shooed us.

"So is that it then?" Fabian asked.

"For now, yes." He dismissed. "But I shall discover who took those items, you mark my words. And when I do–"

"What?" I blurted.

"When the security cameras were taken down, I asked for one camera to be left in my room. I had totally forgotten." I hoped I wasn't as pale as I felt. "So whoever has stolen those items will have been caught."

Thankfully, Trudy walked in to safe the day. "Victor, I had just taken a phone call by Mr. Sweet in your office. He said can you get over to the school."

"What, now?" Victor asked.

"Yes, right away. He said it was an emergency." Trudy explained. Victor left. I took a long sip of my juice.

"Oh dear." I said, looking around to make sure only Fabian was there. "I'm on the tape! What do I do?"

"Just sit tight." He told me, "We'll think of something."

I nodded, and left to go to school with Amber.

_~ At school ~_

Amber and I walked down the hall to class. Fabian still hasn't showed.

"Have you seen Fabian?" I whispered her. "As soon as Victor goes through the footage, I'm dead meat."

Just then, a few feet ahead of us, Victor came out of Sweet's office. "Borders from Anubis House!" he called out. Weirdly, we were all in the same hallway. "I want you back there immediately." He growled.

He stalked off. "Oh boy, I think he knows it's me. I'm DONE for!" I said. Amber said nothing to assure me, only dragging me with her to the House.

We all entered the living area. Victor was there, holding a DVD. "Come along, come along," he beckoned. "It's show time, boys and girls." We all sat down. Fabian appeared. Amber, Fabian and I sat on the same couch next to the TV, me in between the two of them.

"Time to expose the thief!" Victor said. He put the DVD into the TV. I held my breath in exasperation. Here we go. The DVD went in.

"Bzzzzsh." Huh? I glanced at the TV to see Victor, sitting at his office. He was trimming his nose hair! "Bzzzzzz."

Everyone roared with laughter. Victor muttered something.

Fabian tapped me on the shoulder. I looked at him and he showed the case of a DVD in his bag. He was the one that switched the tapes!

"Omigod!" I whispered, enveloped in gratitude. "I owe you one," I glanced back at the screen and angry Victor, "or a gazillion!" I squealed and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, thank you!" I took a breath, calming down but still hugging him.

"Which of you miscreants has dared to interfere with my equipment?" Victor roared.

"Did I, Victor," Alfie said, still laughing. "But, ah, can we see more of your home movies? You obviously have a nose for comedy." Some people laughed even more. I smiled greatly at Fabian, who was blushing. Almost never had I been so relieved in my life. He risked himself to help me. I knew I could trust him.

"Fabian…" I murmured. He glanced at me. "I need to tell you something. But not now."

He nodded.

_~ After returning to school and then back again after classes ~_

"So what did you want to tell me earlier?" Fabian asked. We sat against my bed in my room. Amber was downstairs doing who knows what.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone." I said seriously. "I trust you enough with this."

"I promise." He said immediately.

"When I was eight," I started. "My parents died."

Instantly, sympathy invaded his eyes. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I couldn't look at him, so I dipped my head and stared at my shoes. "It was a normal night at our house." I continued. "I had finished my homework and my parents were sharing a bottle of wine. There was a ring at the doorbell, but my parents were busy, so I answered the door. The next part was a blur, but about three men in black came rushing in. One of them grabbed me. I wasn't sure what was going on, so I screamed. Then the man holding me took me to the living room. The other two men had my parents at gunpoint on the floor. The man holding me put me down and told me to go into the closet. I didn't want to, so I tried to run to Mom. The man grabbed me again. He told me to go into the closet, or he would kill me. My mother was begging at this point. Begging that they didn't hurt me. My father was looking at me, but he was telling me he was sorry. I didn't know what for."

I took a shaky breath. "I wouldn't go in the closet, though. I was scared. He yelled, and took out a gun. He opened the closet himself and shoved me in. The door slammed shut and was locked from the outside. I was banging on the door, screaming for my mom and dad and to be let out. After a little while, my fists and throat hurt so I had stopped. There's a gap, under the door. So I laid on my stomach and peered under. I couldn't see higher than mid calf. The men were still there. My parents were on their knees. One of the men had a black bag by his foot. I saw some cash sticking out."

My voice started to shake harder. I kept my eyes close, not daring to look at Fabian. " 'F-finish them,' one of the men said. There were two loud cracks, and I closed my eyes when I heard them. And then two thumps on the ground. When…. When I opened my eyes, I was staring straight at my father."

"Omigod." I heard him whisper

"His lifeless eyes bore holes into my skull. T-The hole in his head was bleeding. I couldn't see my mother. I was so scared I couldn't scream. The men left soon after. There was blood, lots of it. It pooled and inched closer to me. But it never reached to door. Eventually, I think I passed out. I woke up, still in the closet. But I was so disoriented that I thought it was a dream. Then I noticed I was in the closet still. My eight-year-old mind tried to explain. It was just a joke. Making up for that time I ate three pieces of candy instead of two, or hid my grade from them because I got an F on a test. Maybe the man didn't mean to be so rough.

"When I woke up, I sat against the wall and stared at the door. I was so tired, but I forced myself to stay awake. It was silent for so long. I didn't dare look under the door again. I probably fell asleep again, because I woke up to a bunch of noise. There were sirens. People were talking. They spoke English, but I couldn't understand anything they said."

"The police." Fabian realized.

"I was so tired, but I kicked the door twice. Thankfully, they heard me and opened the door. I thought it would be Mom and Dad, and they were going to laugh at me while I cried for their forgiveness. But it wasn't. It was the police. They carried me out of the closet and took me to a hospital. I was in there for two days, and I was slowly dying of dehydration."

"Mary Ann…" He hugged me tightly. The affection made my heart splinter.

"That wasn't all. They later informed me that my parents were dead. I told them what happened. I wondered where I would go. A week later, the police caught the three men. It was their MO to kill after robbing houses. They never killed kids though, and didn't know I was there. I was so angry, I thought about killing them. But a policewoman told me they would rot in jail, and I felt better. I was so full of resentment… I… I celebrated when I learned one of the men had died." I confessed. "I went to the funeral, just to make sure he was dead. They buried him in the same cemetery as my parents, and that made me angrier. His mother was there. She recognized me from the paper. She was crying, and telling me she was so sorry for everything her son had done. She begged me for forgiveness. I was shocked. It wasn't her fault, why was she crying?"

"Because she felt that she must have done something wrong, and that caused her son to become a murderer." Fabian guessed.

"I started crying, right there. We cried together. I felt guilty, I was so happy he was dead but his mother was grieving so much."

"It's not your fault, he killed your parents!"

"My grandparents took me in. They raised me and helped me get through it all. Gran, my grandmother, she was kind and caring. My grandfather, on the other hand… Let's just say he didn't quite understand. He thought I was just a coward and ran into the closet before anything bad happened. He got mad at me a lot. He even hit me once. Slapped me so hard on the cheek that it bruised." I pointed to the area where the bruise had once been. "The kids at school were mean. They thought the police did that when they interrogated me about killing my parents. My grandfather didn't apologize. Gran got so mad at him. A week later, my grandfather died of a heart attack.

"The kids at school thought I killed him as well. No one would talk to me. The teachers avoided me because they thought I was weird. By middle school, my peers were telling me to die already. Truth, I wanted to. I wanted to die so much. But Gran needed my help. She has health problems, you see. At one point, I applied for a scholarship. But then I got a scholarship… and the rest is history." I finished. I opened my eyes to see Fabian… crying?

"Mary Ann… I can't believe that happened. I am so sorry." He hugged me tighter. My splintered heart then… shattered. I clutched his shirt and started to sob into him.

"The kids were so mean!" I cried. "They told me to rot in hell!"

"They just don't know you." Fabian said softly. "They haven't met you like I have."

"They still send messages to me." I added. "They thought I fled the country because I'm a murdering bitch."

"Then they can all rot in hell." Fabian told me. I held onto him tighter.

"Thank you," I said after a moment, "Thank you for listening. Thank you for not hating me. Thank you for understanding."

"Of course." He said. "I love you." My heart skipped a beat, time slowing down. "We all do." He added, and time resumed again.

I leaned back, releasing my grip and causing him to let go. I swiped the tears out of my eyes and rubbed my cheeks dry. I pushed the auburn hair out of my face. "We should probably head back to everyone." I said.

"Yeah…"

"And you should change that shirt." I added, eyeing the wet marks my tears made.

"Yeah…" he repeated. He got up awkwardly and walked out of the room.

_~ Evening ~_

Jerome and Alfie were playing with the silverware. I dialed Patricia for the sixth time. Only voicemail.

"Hey, Trixie, it's me. Mary Ann. You know, the one who ANSWERS the FRIGGIN' PHONE!" I said, leaving a message. "Calm me back… We're starting to worry."

I hung up and sat down on the couch with Fabian and Amber. "Something's definitely up. I'm pretty sure even she would have called by now." I told them.

Trudy came in to see Jerome and Alfie playing war with the dishes. "Ah!" she said. They froze. "Are you setting this table or wrecking it?" They stopped fooling around.

"Trudy," I called. She came over. "Patricia's been gone for quite some time now and–"

"–and still haven't heard from her." Amber finished. Trudy checked her watch.

"You mean she hasn't come back yet?" she asked. I shook my head. "I just thought she went straight back in to school this morning. Victor!" she called.

"No, don't tell him!" I blurted before I could stop myself. I made a quick cover up, "We shouldn't make him worry." She regarded me and went after him.

"Victor!"

"I heard you the first time," he said indifferently, entering the room.

"Oh, Victor. It's about Patricia." Trudy said. "Well, she went out with her aunt and uncle after the show last night and, well, she hasn't returned!"

"Calm down," Victor said, "Her aunt phoned me this morning. The uncle was taken ill during the night and they are currently at the hospital with him." After that lie, Victor left.

"Ah well, that's a relief." Trudy said happily. She walked off. I inched closer to the two.

"Now something is definitely going down." I said, "So many directions…"

"Why?" Amber asked.

"Because Trixie's aunt, the one who phoned Victor, she doesn't exist." I reminded her.

"Oh yeah, good point." She said.

"Where were they scheduling to meet again? We should find the card." I said.

"I'm heading back to the school to do some more research on these anyway," Fabian took out the puzzle pieces. I motioned for him to hide them, and looked around to make sure no one saw.

"And I'm going to go find that card in Patricia's room." Amber declared. "Sibuna." She did the gesture.

"Sibuna." We did the same. Amber got up and walked off. I switched to her seat.

"I've got bad vibes, Fabian." I told him.

"Mary Ann, don't worry." He assured me. "Patricia is a tough cookie. She can take care of herself."

"But everyone has their soft cookie moments, Fabian. You know that." I countered. I got up and went to my room. I called once more, with no luck, and left another message.

"Look what I found in the pocket of Patricia's costume." Amber said as she walked in. She handed me a Good Luck card.

"Awesome." I said. I opened it and held it to a mirror. I read aloud, "Meet me tonight. Nine. Clearing in the woods. Joy." I gasped. "I might know where that is! I think Patricia brought me there once! Lets go, go, go!" I grabbed a jacket.

"Aren't we going to wait for Fabian?" Amber asked.

"No time, he'll take too long at school." I said. I zipped up my black hoodie over my gray tee.

"But it's getting really dark, and it's going to be supper in half an hour, and it looks a bit cold out there, and I haven't put my hand lotion on." Amber stalled.

"Bring a flashlight, then be quick, wear a jacket, and bring the bottle." I counted off.

"OK, I'm scared, I admit it." She said. "But I don't like going to the woods at the best of times and this is like the opposite of that."

"Stick with me, we'll be OK. Come on, Trixie needs us." I said. I walked out, not leaving any room for negotiations.

Thankfully, that's all it took. Amber and I went sprinting down the path to get to the clearing I had seen Victor take Rufus in.

I caught Amber just in time before we ran into it. Sure enough, through the trees, I saw Rufus and a red truck. He was searching through the leaves for something.

"What's he looking for?" I thought aloud.

"I don't know, but he found it." Amber stated. Rufus stood us and walked to his red truck. He got in and it roared to life. It drove off, and we ran after it.

I realized we would never catch up to it once we got to the road. I kicked the ground.

But then I noticed… "Amber, look! Oil!" I pointed to a stream of it on the ground. She was stepping in it.

"Oh no, do I have it on my shoe?" she freaked.

"Rufus's truck must be leaking." I realized.

"Tell me about it," Amber complained. "One pair of limited edition shoes later."

"It's our path way." I said. "He's our only lead, Amber. We should follow it. Let's go!"

Amber was tired of running, so we walked. After some time, Amber started talking.

"Hey, remember when we first met?" Amber said absentmindedly.

"Yeah?"

"Joy had disappeared. Patricia was talking trash about you," she admitted.

"I was suspicious, I guess." I shrugged. "What's done is done."

"Yeah, but she was so mean." She insisted, "I don't know why you're so persistent to look for her."

"…" I hesitated. "Remember when we had a first real conversation?"

"Yeah."

"You asked me about my parents. I snapped, said it was none of your business."

"Yeah, I was a bit nosy." Amber laughed.

"I… I want to tell you about it," I confessed. "I think you should know. But…. I'm scared how you'll view me. I've been hiding for so long. I only just told Fabian."

"I'll always love you, Mary Ann." Amber promised. "While I'm angry that you told Fabian first, you're my roomie, and best friend. Best friends stick together."

"I… I've never had a best friend before. Thank you."

"Can you tell me what happened? Please?"

"I was eight. They died." I said.

"Oh. Oh Mary Ann, I'm so sorry." She said quickly.

"It's alright. It was quite a while ago." I said.

"This is freaky." Amber said, not about the conversation but about our situation. We now stood in front of a rusty warehouse.

"What?" I said jokingly. "Nothing's scary about an old warehouse in the middle of the woods."

"Do you think Patricia's in there?" Amber asked.

"There's no sign of Roofie." I said.

"He's definitely been here, look." She pointed to an oil leak on the ground.

"We should check inside." I said.

"I just remembered, I have a really important facial schedule and chemistry homework that won't right itself." Amber stalled. "So…"

"Amber," I said, "If we survive, I'll tell you everything. Besides, it's probably just an abandoned factory, you know? We can handle this."

"Or we could just not go in?" Amber suggested. I unbolted the first latch. Then the second latch, and finally the last one.

"Help me open it," I said. She and I tugged and the door, and it swung open.

"Boo-yah!" I announced. Inside was some old storage. A chair and blanket were in the middle, and a water bottle and hamburger were on a table next to it.

Without thinking, I ran in. I placed a hand on the burger. "It's still warm." I announced. "They've only just left." I picked up a ring that was on the blanket. "This is Patricia's. They were definitely here."

"Where is she now, and where's Rufus?" Amber asked.

Suddenly, Patricia's voice screamed, "Amber! Mary!"

We spun around to see them standing at the door. Rufus was closing the door. I bolted to it.

"No!" I screamed. Amber and I ran, but it shut just when we reached it.

"Patricia!" Amber yelled. I shared a look with her.

We were trapped.


	16. Truths

_Yay, Friday! Crazy chapter, wasn't it? How will Amber and Mary Ann get out of this one, huh?_

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN HOUSE OF TRUTHS**

I pushed against door. "Let us out!" I screeched.

"Just give up Mary Ann," Amber said, sitting down on the chair. "It's been, like, 2 minutes. Do you think we could smash a window or something?"

"They're all barred." I said. I rested my forehead on the rusty door. "Wait… my phone!" I felt my pockets. Empty. "H-Huh? Where's my phone?" I patted my pockets again. "Damn, I must have left it at the house! Did you bring yours?"

"Of course, this is me we're talking about." Amber stated. I went to her. She flipped out her phone, but the smile she had on her face fell. "Oh no. I forgot." She said, "I used up all my minutes voting on Celebrity Pop Factor last month."

"I hope they won." I muttered.

"No, can you believe it? After all I did for her." She complained. "Looks like we've got quite some time now. Do you feel up to telling me more?"

"As I said, I was eight." I sighed. "Some robbers came in and forced me into a closet. They killed my parents and took off with most of our stuff." I summarized, not even looking at her. "My grandparents took me in. My grandfather died a few weeks later. I got bullied in school a lot."

"Oh Mary Ann…" Amber whispered.

I shook my head. "It's alright. This was a long time ago. I've gotten over it."

"But Mary Ann, that's not something to get over, like a pair of shoes or something." Amber stated. Of course she would make the connection to shoes.

"I admit, 'get over' wasn't the right term." I corrected. "Perhaps 'gotten used to' or 'hidden my emotions' is a better way of looking at it."

"Is that why you won't let me call you Mary? Because the kids at school bullied you?"

I nodded. "They didn't believe me when I told my story. They either thought I killed my parents or was a coward and hid in the closet when things got ugly."

"That's so-o-o-o unfair! Why would they think that? What kind of eight year-old does that?" Amber complained loudly.

"Me, according to them." I replied bluntly.

"Well, I'll give them a piece of my mind when we get out of here." Amber said stubbornly.

"You don't have to." I told her.

"It's what best friends are for." She replied.

Just then a loud _clang_ was heard from the door. It was unlocking!

"They're back. Grab something." I said. I picked up a rusty baseball bat.

The door opened and we ran at it. "Aaaaah!" we screamed.

A dark-haired boy appeared, and he started to scream when he saw us coming. We stopped in mid-track.

"Fabian!" Amber and I said in unison. We bear-hugged him.

"Some welcome, guys." Fabian joked. "I followed the oil leak from the van. I didn't know if I was on the right track or not!"

"Oh man, I have NEVER been so happy to see someone!" I said. I threw the bat away.

"OK, we need to go." He said. I nodded and the three of us ran out. I breathed fresh air.

"I love air!" I screamed loudly.

Fabian told us about what he heard in at school, and why he came back to the house, only we weren't there. He found the card from Joy and then followed the oil leak to us. We all agreed that we should go to the school.

_~ At the school ~_

We burst through the doors to the hallway in front of Mr. Sweet's office to find Mrs. Andrews walking towards us.

"Mrs. A." I said.

She looked at us, startled. "What on Earth..." she said.

"We know Patricia's a kidnap victim." I said.

"We know Rufus has got Patricia, and we also know that you know he's got her." Fabian said.

"Where did you get all this information?" Mrs. Andrews asked.

"We know so much more than you think," Amber stated. "We're totally up to speed."

"We just want to get Patricia back." I told our teacher.

"As do I," she said.

"OK, so what is the plan of action?" Fabian asked.

"The plan," Mrs. A said sweetly, "is that you go back to your House and get ready for bed, and I promise you by the morning all of this will be resolved." She pushed past us.

"You're going to meet him, aren't you?" Fabian accused.

"Keep out of this, Fabian," she said strictly.

"We aren't scared of Rufus." I said.

"You have no idea what you're walking into." She said. "Besides, I couldn't possibly allow children to get involved."

"You remind me of someone," I told her, clenching my fists, "who doesn't harm children. I really don't like that person. But that's beside the point. We're already more than a mile deep into this."

"And you can't go alone." Fabian said. "It's far too dangerous."

"Precisely." Mrs. A said, "And that is exactly why you have to stay here. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get my car." She then left. I clenched my teeth.

"What do we do now?" Amber asked.

"We get on our bikes and we follow her." Fabian planned. "Children?" he huffed, "We'll show her."

"I like this dark side." I commented. "Let's bring on the rebellion!"

_~ TIME WARP ~_

Within a few minutes and Amber ruining her new shoes, we caught up with our French teacher in the clearing. She was standing in front of her car, which was a few feet away from Rufus, who was standing in front of his red truck. We hid amongst the trees. Rufus was ordering that Mrs. Andrews locked her car.

"I can't see Patricia." Amber whispered.

"She must be in the back of Rufus's van." Fabian guessed.

"Then let's bust her out. Go, go, go!" I whispered. We made our way to the back of the van. Rufus and Mrs. A had no idea, and we still conversing. Fabian tried the door.

"It's locked." He said. Patricia showed up in the door.

"Trixie!" I said quietly.

"Get me out of here!" she said.

Fabian took out a crowbar (or maybe a big piece of metal) from his bag. "Hang on Patricia." He said.

"Why the hell did you have that in your bag?" I asked. He shrugged. He placed the thing in between the doors. He struggled with it, and I realized he was trying to break the lock.

"Hurry up! Please!" Patricia yelled from the other side of the door.

"HOW DARE YOU CHEAT US?" I heard Mrs. Andrews bellow from the other side of the car. The van roared to life.

"Hurry!" I pressured.

"I'm trying!" he protested.

"Please! Quickly get the door open!" Patricia said. Fabian dug the metal slab in deeper. It must have hit something in the lock, because the doors open. I reached inside and grabbed Patricia. She came out and Amber and I enveloped her in a group hug. Fabian slammed the door closed.

I heard Mrs. Andrews crying "NO!" Rufus's van drove away.

I started to laugh, playing with Patricia's hair. We all came in for a group hug.

"We did it!" I cheered. We walked over to Mrs. A.

She stared at us, shocked. "How on Earth…" She sighed with relief. "Oh Patricia, I've been so worried about you…" She tried to give her a hug, but Patricia pushed her away with a look of disgust on her face.

"Yeah right." she said.

"Patricia!"

"Come on!" Patricia pressured. "What's the big mystery? Why is Rufus after Joy, and where is she? Tell me, or I'm going global."

"Don't threaten me, Patricia." Mrs. Andrews said. She looked worn out, tired. "You have no idea what you're getting into."

"Don't threaten me, _Daphne_." Patricia spat.

"Oh, first name!" I commented.

"I'm already in it." Patricia continued. Mrs. A could only stare at Patricia.

_~ The next morning ~_

Mick was leaving. Off to trials for UCLA. I woke up to the sound of his taxi honking, and suddenly remembered it. I woke up Amber and I ran to the staircase. Everyone was in the hallway. Mick was still there.

"MICK YOU IDIOT!" I screamed as I ran down the stairs. "YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST _LEAVE_ WITHOUT ME KNOWING?!" I threw my arms around his neck. Everyone laughed. I let him go.

"Cali is great, but remember that it's not all beach and fun." I reminded him. He nodded, said some final goodbyes, and then walked out the front door. He didn't come back.

"Nyeh," I moaned. "Do you think I can go back to bed now?" I sighed, already knowing the answer.

_~ At school ~_

"Do you think I overstepped the mark? Demanding answers?" Patricia asked before class started.

"Nuh-uh. I've got new respect for you, Wonder Woman." I said.

"Who's ready to bring these suckers down?" Patricia asked. I raised a hand. She high-fived it.

"Sibuna." Amber said excitedly.

"Sibuna." The rest of us said.

Mrs. Andrews walked into class. "OK, settle down quickly, please." She said, setting up for class. "Now, it has come to our attention that some of you are not as occupied as you might like outside of class."

What? I scowled. I glanced at Fabian, and saw he shared a look of confusion on his face.

"You could say that again." Jerome commented from the back. "Bring on the new girls, miss."

Ignoring Jerome, our teacher continued. "So we've decided to run elections for a school representative. A school representative will be an ambassador for the school and will also act as a bridge between staff and student." Patricia raised her hand. "Yes, Patricia?"

"I don't like the school rep idea, Mrs. Andrews." She said bluntly. "But I might be interested in starting a school paper. The gossip, the news, the scandal, the _truth_. What you reckon?"

"I think you'll find, Patricia, that that little matter is already in hand." She replied. Patricia shrugged. "Now, about the school representative…"

_~ After class ~_

The Sibunas walked down the hall. "What do you think she meant by the matter already being at hand?" Patricia asked.

As if out of nowhere, Victor suddenly appeared beside us. "You are to come with me," He said to make his presences known, which also made me jump in surprise, "if you want to know the truth." And just as mysteriously, he walked away. I shared a confused look with the others and we followed after him.

On the walk to the House, I pestered Victor annoying questions. "Do you think you could get us out of homework? Is your favorite fruit really a strawberry? Is my middle name Ann, or is that part of my first name? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Do you think the new Death Note volume has come out in America yet? Do you have cell phone coverage here?"

Of course, he didn't answer any of the questions. I just filled in the awkward silence. When we got to the House, Trudy had gone off to the supermarket. Oh great, no witnesses. We walked into his office. Patricia started to freak out, and breathing very heavily. Amber claimed she was too pretty to die. Victor locked the door, and then sat at his desk.

He typed away at the computer. "You wanted an answers? Well, here they are." He turned the screen around. We were video chatting. A pretty girl was on the screen. Her skin was tan. Her eyes and hair were brown. She looked like that girl we saw at the play!

"Patricia?" the girl asked. I claimed a seat nearby. Patricia gasped and stopped banging at the door. "Patricia, are you there?"

"Joy…" Patricia said softly. She claimed a seat next to me. Fabian and Amber stood behind us. "Joy!" The girl on the screen chuckled. "I got your card, Joy. I came to find you, but…"

Joy shook her head. "They wouldn't let me meet you. Too dangerous." She rolled her eyes.

"Hey, it's OK." Patricia said, "It's not your fault. So when are you coming back?"

Joy paused. Victor glanced away from us. I sensed something was wrong. "Hey, is that Amber?" Joy changed the subject.

"Hey Joy!" Amber said, "I have so much to tell you. Mick and I split up, and he's totally devastated, but pretending not to be. And Mary Ann's started at the school, she's American."

"Yo," I greeted. "Help me, I'm surrounded by British people!"

"Hi," she laughed. "So you're the newbie?"

"You could say that." I grinned. "Where are you? Do you have permission to tell us?"

"No she does not." Victor interrupted. I sighed.

"And Fabian's here!" Amber said to bring the mood up.

"Hey Joy." He waved. Something changed in her face.

"Fabes…" she said, almost longingly. She beamed. "Hi." I glanced between her and Fabian. Did I sense some romantic tension here? And Fabian never told me? I told him my biggest secret, and he never told he was dating the girl who disappeared?

"So when are you coming back?" Patricia persisted. Joy looked down again.

"I'm not." She said finally.

"What?" Patricia said. "Why not?"

"I can't say too much." Joy admitted. "But my dad says there's someone after us so we have to move away and change our names and stuff."

"You should change your name to Temperance." I blurted out. "Like in _Bones_."

"Rufus?" Patricia asked, like I never said anything. A man appeared behind Joy. Her dad, perhaps?

"I'm still your best friend, Patricia." She said. "I always will be, but it's just too dangerous for me to be there anymore."

"Off the cam now, please, princess." The man said to Joy. He had similar facial features to Joy. His hair was graying.

"Guys, I have to go, but listen. Victor and the other teachers–"

"Joy." The man warned sternly.

"They're protecting me." Joy confessed. I scowled. Considering what happened to Patricia not too long ago, I doubted they could protect anyone. "You can trust them, OK?" She stepped out of the camera range.

"Joy, don't go!" Patricia begged. Joy appeared on screen again. "I miss you…"

"I miss you too." She said. Her voice cracked. "Bye." She disappeared again.

"Happy now?" Victor asked. I rolled my eyes.

"But why is Rufus after Joy?" Patricia asked.

"He's not after Joy, he's after me." The man on the screen said. He took Joy's spot. "Hello Patricia."

"Mr. Mercer?" Patricia asked wearily. Like Joy Mercer…. He was definitely Joy's father.

"I work for the government." He told us. "Zeno is after some top-secret information which we cannot let him have. It's a matter of national security."

"And you're risking everything by telling us this….why?" I asked suspiciously.

"Sorry, but that's all I can tell you at the moment."

"Very well, boys and girls." Victor interrupted. He turned the computer around and clicked something. "Wrap it up now." He got up and took out his keys. "And there's one more thing, from now on, you are to go straight to school and then directly back to the house afterwards." I glanced at Fabian, who looked confused. "No one is to go anywhere without my knowledge. Rufus Zeno is still out there." He unlocked the door and opened it for us. "Now go."

"I'm going to the bathroom," I announced loudly. "Just making sure you had knowledge of that." He glared at me for a second.

When he shut the door behind us, I groaned. "House arrest? Again?"

"I can't believe he's one of the good guys." Amber said. "He has such evil hair."

I laughed. "Yeah, his hair is so-o-o-o-o evil." I sighed. "But is he really one of the good guys?"

"Yes," Patricia said, convinced. "You heard Joy."

"At least we know Joy's safe." Fabian said as we walked down the stairs.

"It's really scary though. Having to reinvent myself to get Rufus off my back." Patricia said.

"He can't get to her now," I said. "She is miles away."

"It's not her I was thinking of." She said. We reached the bottom of the stairs, and I looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Guys, wait, give me a minute." Fabian pushed past us.


	17. Numbers

_Hmm, whatever could Fabian be up to? Hope you all enjoy this chapter, so much drama happens._

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN HOUSE OF NUMBERS**

Fabian ran to his room, leaving us girls at the stairs. He came back just as quickly, holding the puzzle pieces.

"I'm taking these to school with me." He told us. "I know Joy said Victor was one of the good guys, but I still don't trust him." I nodded in agreement. Something was up with Victor, and it didn't feel right.

Fabian rushed to hide the puzzle pieces in him bag as Trudy walked in.

"Oh, Fabian, be a love, give these letters to Victor." Trudy said, handing Fabian a bunch of letters. "I'm off to the supermarket. If I don't go now, I'll miss my bus. And then lunch with your uncle Aide." I stifled a giggle. Trudy grinned and walked out the front door.

"Aw, does this mean you can call Trudy 'Auntie'?" I teased. "I've wanted to do that."

However, the joke was lost, because Fabian was staring intently at a letter in the pile. His face was oddly pale. "Seen a ghost?" I asked.

He showed us a letter. "This one's from the hospital." He said.

"Alfie's toxicology report." I guessed.

"Right…" Fabian looked at the letter again.

"THE HALL IS NOT AN AREA FOR LOITERING!" Victor called down from his office.

"Just, em, letters! Victor!" Fabian called back. He went up the stairs to give them to him. I took a deep breath, and we all walked back to the school.

Fabian was freaking out because he had just given the toxicology letter to our evil caretaker.

"Just relax, Fabian." Patricia said. "You basically have to trust Victor. Remember what Joy said.

"Did you just say you spoke to Joy?" Mara asked, coming up to us. Oh shit. "Is she alright?"

"Joy is fine," Patricia lied quickly. "She just said she doesn't want to come back to the school and…. And she doesn't want to talk to any of us anymore."

"When did she say all of this?" Amber asked. I kicked her in the ankle. "Ow!"

"Sorry, was that your foot?" I gritted through a smile.

"Yes," Amber replied annoyed, "And more importantly that was a very special shoe!"

I coughed and nodded at Mara. Thankfully, Amber got the message. "Oh, yeah. Joy hates us all." The rest of us shifted in agreement to the false statement. We walked off and I heard Mara mutter an OK.

Amber ran off to get the classwork we missed. Patricia, Fabian and I went to our lockers. I sighed when I shut mine. Mind reeling, I faced the other two. Our lockers were near each other, only one or two apart from the other.

"So, I know we've been told to trust Vicky and our teachers…" I started. "But there's just so much. Puzzle piece, and that photo of Victor looking exactly the same in 1925, and the elixir, and the evil hair, not to mention such curfew! And don't forget the overall creepiness."

"I know, but the elixir Alfie drank wasn't the elixir, was it?" Patricia argued. "It was cleaning fluid."

"Victor said it was cleaning fluid." Fabian pointed out, but she walked away.

"She sounds like a brainwashed victim in a TV show." I noted.

"The toxicology report might say something different." Fabian said.

"Too bad Victor's got it." I muttered. I turned my head to the sound of loud footsteps to see Victor at Mr. Sweet's door.

"Do I spy Victor going into Sweetie's office?" Fabian asked, a smile on his face.

"And Trudy's becoming your aunt, which means…" I trailed off.

"Anubis house is empty!" Fabian finished.

"Eee! Let's go!" I said excitedly. We ran down the hallway.

Out in the courtyard, we slowed down to speed walking. "Is it weird?" I asked after a while.

"What?"

"Trudy and Uncle Aide."

"If they're both happy." He replied with a shrug.

"Typical Fabian response." I rolled my eyes.

"And what's that suppose to mean?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Eh, nothing. Just sounds like something you would say." I brushed off.

We got to the house and ran into Victor's office. Fortunately, Fabian remembered the security camera at the last possible moment. He stopped us before we ran into the room, and searched for the camera. It was right by the door.

Fabian pushed a stuffed rabbit (and I mean, a rabbit. I shuddered at it) in front of the lens. "OK," Fabian turned to me. I ran into the room, to the desk. "We haven't got long. I'll take this side." He went to the left side of the desk.

It didn't matter to me. It was the right drawer I wanted. I dug around through the papers to reach the back, to find the coins. Fabian must have noticed, because he said, "What are you doing?"

I reached way back, and my fingers brushed something cool. "Yes," I whispered. I pulled out the coins. They looked the same as last time I saw them, during my play when I ran to get the puzzle pieces. They were bronze coins with our names engraved on them. "He didn't move them. Look here." Fabian scooted closer to me. "I found them when I was getting the puzzle pieces. They've got our names on them."

Fabian held the one with his name on it. "Oh, that is creepy." He shuddered.

I took it back from him and agreed. "Let's check the rest of his loot." I said, mostly to myself. Fabian looked back at his side of the desk, and pulled out the letter. "Here it is!" he exclaimed. I flipped around in the drawer as he read the report. I picked something up… a photo.

It was of two people, standing on the porch of Anubis house. One of them was Victor, looking exactly the same. The other was of a young boy, maybe seven or eight years old. He had freckles splashed across this face, and dark hair. They shared a striking resemblance. Victor's son? No, who'd have a son with Victor?

"It definitely wasn't cleaning fluid." Fabian announced, drawing me back to reality just a smidge. I flipped the picture over. Some writing was scrawled on it. 'VICTOR RODEMAAR SENIOR WITH VICTOR RODENMAAR JUNIOR 1922'

"Holy crap. Fabian, look at this." I flipped the card onto the desk.

He read the writing out loud. "That's Victor's father." He realized. "But, that means the voices on the cylinders and the photographs… They weren't Victor… They were–"

"Victor's dad?" I finished. We shared a look. He looked at the photo.

Get me out of this nightmare. "What's the report read?" I changed the subject.

Fabian reread it. "H2O." he said.

"Water." I repeated. "Water?"

"Ginseng, angelica, cinnamon bark," he read. "It was just a herbal concoction."

"So there's not an actual elixir of life?" I whispered.

_~ At school ~_

"So Victor isn't a hundred and twenty and there is no elixir." Amber summarized after we told her. "And the voice on Sarah's recording is Victor's dad? That's insane."

"Wow, you really were listening!" Fabian exclaimed in surprise.

"I know," Amber declared. "I find it helps to imagine I'm Mara, but only for like a second because then it's weird." Fabian rolled his eyes and I shrugged.

"So there is no mystery." Patricia stated.

Yeah there is. If the photo is of Victor and his father, then that makes Victor about ninety years old. I didn't say it out loud, but my mouth said, "It just doesn't add up!" Amber wouldn't look at me straight. Neither would Patricia.

"You aren't giving up on me… are you?" I questioned. Amber and Patricia looked at each other, and then walked away. Amber mouthed a 'sorry'. Fabian went silent.

"Fine then." I mumbled, hating that I felt so betrayed. I took my iPod out of my bag.

"N-no, M-Mary Ann," Fabian stammered, "I was just–"

"It's OK," I interrupted. "I must have been wrong. I've been this far…"

Fabian was about to say something, but then Alfie came in. "OK guys," he said, "All of you have to meet in the drama studio, Mrs. Andrews has some big important announcement to make apparently. Hey, maybe they found the thief who stole stuff from Victor's safe last week."

I paled and looked back at Fabian. He must have been feeling the same rush of anxiety. I ran to the studio with Alfie.

"OK," our French teacher said loudly over the murmuring students. "Quiet down. Now everyone's here. I just want to let everyone know that we are officially moving ahead with our idea of a school representative."

I let out a breath of relief. No thieves. Oh thank goodness.

"And that person will be chosen from this year's group." Mrs. A announced.

"Is that it?" Alfie asked. "Boring!" Some of the students started to laugh. "I thought it would be some exciting mystery."

"Be careful what you wish for." Patricia voiced my thoughts.

"So do we have any nominations?" Mrs. A asked.

"I nominate Mara Jeffray." Jerome declared. I looked at them and saw a grateful Mara and a smug Jerome. Hmm….

"Good, any other nominations?" Mrs. Andrews asked.

"I nominate Am–" Alfie started loudly. Amber wheeled on him.

"Don't you dare!" Amber screeched threateningly.

"Amelia Pinches." Alfie improvised nervously. A girl on the other side of the room waved to Alfie after agreeing. She had two brown braids down the side of her head. She also had braces, from what I could see.

"Any other nominations?" Mrs. Andrews repeated. Silence. "No? So. Nomination will close in five days time. Thank you very much." She walked offstage.

I took a deep breath and turned to Fabian. For some reason, he was grinning at Alfie. "Close one!" I sang under my breath, loud enough for him to hear.

"You can say that again."

"Close one!"

We laughed.

_~ Night ~_

Something was squirming in my head. It almost hurt. Keep adjusting position, and it fades. Stop, and it squirms again. Deep in my core, something is trying to call me. My gut pulls. Blood freezes.

**My eyes flashed open. Someone is at the foot of my bed. I blinked twice. "Sarah?" I voiced. There stood the old lady, in a white night gown. She was… glowing? Instead of alarmed, I felt slightly relaxed.**

**"You aren't giving up on me, are you Mary Ann?" she asked, her voice sounding echoic.**

**"No way!" I exclaimed. Why isn't Amber waking up? Can't she hear…**

**Sarah smiled. "Good. Because it's just beginning. Eleven, zero one, zero one, one nine, one five."**

**"Huh?"**

**She frowned a bit. "Eleven," she insisted. "Zero one, zero one, one nine, one five."**

As soon as she said the last number, my eyes flew open. Huh? When did I close them…

The sun peaked out from the window. No, it was still nighttime. Unless, it was a dream?

"Sarah…" I whispered. She wasn't at the foot of my bed. What did the numbers mean?

_~ Morning ~_

I couldn't fall back asleep. I took out my iPod and listened to some music to pass the time. Eleven, zero, one, zero, one, one, nine, one, five. Passcode? Phone number?

Eventually, I did doze off. When I woke up, Amber had already gone downstairs for breakfast. I got dressed in my uniform and went to the living room. If there was anyone who could make any sense… it was probably Fabian.

"Hey, can I talk you about something?" I asked him at when I entered the room.

He sighed. "Yeah, me too." He said. He didn't seem sad, just a like he received bad news. Or was giving some…

We walked to school. I told him about the dream.

"Tell me those numbers again." Fabian asked as we walked down the hall.

"Eleven, zero one, zero one, one nine one five." I recited. Sarah must have engraved them into my skull somehow.

"And this was a dream?" Fabian repeated.

"It's not like my normal dreams. But it felt just as real." I admitted. Plus, most of my dreams were my nightmares of seeing my parents die. Ever since I told Fabian the full story, the nightmares seemed to have disappeared.

"It's weird." Fabian stated.

"Add that to the list." I said. We stopped at my locker. "So, what's your news?" I asked as I started to switch things in my bag with the things in my locker.

Instantly, he started to stutter. Oh no, this can't be good. "I know you're going to think calmly, and rationally, about this." he said. I raised an eyebrow. "But the thing is, I kind of misplaced one of the latest puzzle pieces." I slammed my locker door.

"WHAT?!" I whisper-screeched.

"I, too, have been thinking calmly and rationally about it." Fabian said, trying not to get too much attention drawn to us. I took a deep breath. "And I think it fell out of my bag when I shoved it up there yesterday." His eyes flickered to above the lockers. "I thought there was going to be a bag search!"

"Well, look!" I whispered. "You're taller than me!"

He went to the lockers and felt around on the top. When he came up empty, he pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered, "Excellent. It's not here. It must have been swept up last night." He tried to rationalize.

"Aw hell!" I took another calming breath. "Victor!"

Then the warning bell rang. I ran off to class. Of course, the teacher wasn't yet, so I had nothing to do but rest my chin on the desk and stare at the white board. Oh man, why did the piece have to fall out of his bag? Why did it have to get swept up? I wasn't mad at Fabian; I thought there might have been a bag check as well. If I were him, I'd shove my bag up there too. I was just frustrated that we were now a step behind.

I guess Fabian took my silence for anger, because he whispered, "I will get it back."

"How?" I asked, titling my head on the desk to raise an eyebrow at him.

"I don't know." He admitted. "But I will, I promise."

"OK everyone settle down!" Mr. Winkler walked into the room. "Quickly and quietly, please. I want to talk numerology."

Mara and Jerome walked in. Jerome made a snarky remark about serious classes, but I hardly paid attention. I sat up when Winkler picked up his chair and placed it on his desk for the class to see.

"Today, we would look at something like this chair and say it isn't alive." He told us. "But ancient Egyptians believed everything was alive. They believed everything was made up of living particles." He took the chair down. "And that every person, every object, could be reduced down to what they believed were divine numbers.

"The god Osiris represents the first perfect odd number. 3." He drew a triangle on the whiteboard. Below it, he wrote 'OSIRIS' and then the number 3. Inside the triangle, he wrote 'ISIS'. Above the triangle, he wrote 'HORUS'. "And Isis represents the number 4." He wrote 4 next to Isis. "The result of the two was their son, Horus. He's represented by the number 5." He wrote the said number by said name.

He faced the class, and then suddenly Patricia screamed. Everyone jumped and turned to face her, but she was already running out of the classroom.

"Patricia!" I shouted. All of Anubis House got up and ran after her.

_~ Evening ~_

"So she's definitely alright?" Mara asked again to Alfie when dinner was over.

"Yeah, took me ages to find her." He said. "She's a bit embarrassed, you know, so when she comes in, no one mention it, OK?"

"That's sweet of you, Lewis." I commented.

"That's fine by me, I've had enough scary talk and screaming for one day." Amber said. "Listen up you guys." She took a scarf and made it into a headband, placing it on her head. "Mr. Winkler said the Egyptians were really big on numberology." I chuckled at the made-up word. "And I happen to know how to work out your perfect love match by working out your numbers. Any takers?" She held out a pen and notebook.

Immediately, I went to the couches. I had no intention of having Amber work out my love life. Fabian came in and sat next to me. "Sarah's numbers, what if they're coordinates?" he said.

"We can't think about that, the piece is still missing!" I pointed out.

"I'm sorry!" he complained in frustration. His face softened and he looked me in the eyes. "Look, I will not give up. On Sarah, the quest, and certainly not on you."

I blushed and ducked my gaze. "Um… ah… thanks." I stammered, biting my lip.

"Mr. Sweet?" Alfie said loudly. Thankful, I turned my attention to them. "My perfect love match is old Sweetie?" Jerome laughed from the kitchen. Amber nodded and Alfie shuddered.

"Sorry, Alfie." She said as he went away. Oh the poor guy. "Like I said, the numbers never lie. It's science." Was she throwing down to Mara or was she just looking at her when she said this?

Suddenly, Amber looked to me. "Mary Ann, let's work out your number." I got up to escape the awkward. "And then maybe Fabian's." I sat down next to her.

"So what now?" I asked dramatically.

"Write down your full name and birthday." She said, handing me the notebook.

"OK. " I said. "Mary Ann Ingrid Norton. July seventh, 1995." I wrote it down. I handed it back to her.

"Alright." She said. "July is the seventh month, so seven plus… the seventh day. So seven plus seven. And then there's 1995, so one plus nine plus nine plus five. So, seven plus seven plus one plus nine plus nine plus five." She wrote all of this down, and then started to simplify the equation.

"Where did you find this?" Fabian suddenly exclaimed. I looked over to see Patricia sitting where I once was, and Fabian grinning like an idiot. "Patricia, I could kiss you!"

"Don't." Patricia, held an arm out in case he would make any sudden moves.

I tried not to feel hurt, but I did anyways. Why should I care? It's not like we're dating or anything.

"You're an eleven!" Amber announced, jarring me back to her. "Eleven is considered a Master Number or a Power Number, since it exceeds ten. But it could also be broken down to two, but that's not the case. Elevens are idealists, visionary, intuitional, revelated, artistic, balanced between the two genders and have many gifts. Like keen sense of sensitivity and all that."

"Wow, that's actually pretty cool. So now I have to look for that special Eleven, huh?" I laughed. I saw Fabian try to nab my attention. When I looked at him, he motioned to go upstairs. "I'm going upstairs. See you later." I got up and met up with Fabian and Patricia in the hallway.

"Why are we going to my room?" I asked. "What's so special about it?"

Neither of them said anything, like they didn't ever think about it either.

When we got to my room, I sat cross-legged on my bed, Fabian and Patricia sitting next to my on the floor. Fabian brought a paper with him. Patricia explained how she got the puzzle piece (which explained why Fabian was so happy earlier) from Alfie. I stared at it, and realized that there were numbers on it. In fact, the same numbers as Sarah told me about!

"OK, so here's a map of the house." Fabian brought me back to reality. He pointed at the paper. "If Sarah's numbers are coordinates–"

"They aren't." I interrupted suddenly.

"They're not?"

"Nope." I took a notebook and a pen. "If you add the digits after eleven together, you get eleven. Which is Sarah's number, also the first number which is what she was telling us, also just like me." I handed them the notebook.

"Huh?" Patricia said in confusion.

"Sarah's numerology number." I explained. "And her date of birth." I took the notebook back and Fabian smiled at me. I picked up the puzzle piece.

"Eleven." I said out loud. I moved a ring on it until it showed me 11. Immediately, I felt something inside me stir. "Zero one." Twist, twist, and 01. The stirring grew louder and I wasn't the only one affected. I stopped.

"What was that?" Fabian asked.

"I don't know but it's freaking me out." Patricia said.

"Zero one." I continued. Boom, another one. I could hear Victor calling the curfew downstairs. "One nine." 19. "One five." 15. I stopped. Nothing….

The stirring grew really loud, and the whole house suddenly started to shake.

"Hold onto something!" I yelled, clutching the bed. Amber's dream-catcher fell, as did a picture in a frame.

I suddenly remembered Mr. Winkler's lesson. Things we thought today weren't alive… but the Egyptians thought different. "Guys… Guys, I think the house is coming to life!"


	18. Noises

_Hey, here's a new chapter! Thanks to all who reviewed, it always means a lot. I checked my numerology number (using the method from the last chapter), and I'm an Eleven! Not even joking! It's so cool! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, see y'all Tuesday!_

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN HOUSE OF NOISES**

"Did you hear that earthquake yesterday evening?" Trudy asked during breakfast. I opened my mouth only to shove food inside.

"It was no earthquake." Alfie said, "It was definitely an alien mother ship taking off." I sighed and tuned out. I saw Alfie leave, and then Fabian started talking.

"So I've been thinking about the fourth puzzle piece and how Sarah's numbers opened it–"

"WHOA!" Amber interrupted. "Rewind. You guys opened another puzzle piece? Without me? So rude."

"As I was saying before I got interrupted," Fabian looked at Amber. I stifled a laugh.

"I can't believe you did that without telling me!" Amber cried. "Rude, again."

"The fifth puzzle piece looks exactly the same, so are we assuming that Sarah's numbers open that one too?" Fabian said.

"Maybe we shouldn't try it." Patricia suggested. "Those noises terrified me."

"Hang on, noises?" Amber repeated. "You mean that wasn't an earth tremor?"

"What did you do with the riddle?" Fabian asked me. I grabbed my bag to fish it out. It brought me back to the night when Victor actually caught Fabian and I, back when he first took the puzzle piece. It was inside the hollow, and I managed to nab it before Victor saw. And if he did see, he never mentioned it.

"Riddle? What riddle?" Amber questioned. "We have another riddle?"

"Amber, will you stop repeating everything?" Patricia complained.

"Well no one tells me anything, apparently." She stated. I handed the riddle to Fabian. I had actually totally forgotten about it. I wondered why I never read it.

"My father's father stands tall. His face and hands together turn circles around Isis and Osiris and Horus the son reveals me…" Fabian's voice got smaller by the end of the reading. It was just as confusing to him as it was to me.

"I thought these things were getting easier!" Fabian stated. I took another bite of breakfast.

_~ Lunch Break ~_

During lunch, I returned to the house to get some food. Screw Victor, I didn't eat enough during breakfast.

"Pst!" A voice whispered when I stepped into the hall. I stopped. "Mary Ann?" it whispered.

"Holy crap, the house is alive! And it knows my name!" I freaked.

A nervous laugh whispered. "It's Fabian! Over here!" I saw his face peeking out from the space under the stairs, where we first found the picture of Victor's dad.

"Has Victor gone?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah." I said. "What the hell are you doing?"

"It's a long story." He told me. He got out of the space. "Where is he?"

"Over the rainbow." I rolled my eyes. "Upstairs, duh."

"Keep watch, OK?"

I nodded. Fabian went over to the grandfather clock in the main hall. It was already open and the hour hand was broken off.

"Three o'clock." Fabian muttered. He pushed the minute hand backwards until the stub of the hour hand reached three. A compartment above the clock face opened up, but it was hollow.

"Ugh, it's empty." Fabian groaned. "There's nothing here."

"Sibuna time." I smiled. "I'll get them after school."

_~ Sibuna meeting! Amber and Mary Ann's room ~_

I walked in, Amber and the Sibuna gang following.

"OK, so what's so urgent?" Patricia asked.

"It's time we talked." I announced. "About the house, and the Cup, and the earthquake–"

"I thought as much!" Alfie Lewis, toothbrush in hand, walked into the room. Oh crap, was there no privacy in this house!? "What do you know about the relics and the quakes? Where have they come from?" He waved the toothbrush at us. "Or should I ask Victor what's going on?"

"Alfie!" Fabian said before he could leave. "Look… the thing is… You were right." Something changed in Alfie's expression. Confusion? "You were right all along. The thing you found is a real alien artifact."

Wow. Fabian could lie pretty well.

"And we're scared that aliens may have infiltrated the school and we don't know who they are, or what they want, or if they want to harm us." Fabian lied. "Right, guys?" he turned to us.

"Totally." Amber said.

"Exactly." Patricia added. I said nothing.

"It's really, really important that we keep this to ourselves," Fabian said.

"How about I do some research on the Internet?" Alfie said, almost desperately. "See what we need to do to protect ourselves."

"Yeah!" Fabian said. "That is a great idea. And take all the time you need." He took Alfie by the shoulders and led him out of the room. Assuring him that we needed him, Fabian shut the door on Alfie.

"Aw, I feel really mean." Patricia said ruefully. "He's been so nice to me the last few days."

"You_ are_ mean." Amber told her. "But I was mean, and that's unusual."

"We're protecting him," Fabian told us. "It's better that he spills some crazy story about aliens than about the you-know-what."

"Back to meeting, please." I clapped twice. They nodded. "The puzzle piece in Vicky's safe, I think that's what was in the clock."

"Which explains why it wasn't there just now." Fabian rationalized.

"Bu-u-ut," I interjected. "I don't think Victor opened it. He wouldn't have known the numbers."

"Sarah's numbers?" Fabian asked. "He might have."

"OK, truth time, Sarah's numbers didn't open that piece, I checked." I said, taking a notebook from my bag. "These might." I handed the notebook to him.

"Whose are these?" he asked.

"Mine." I said. As soon as I said it, a humming filled the house.

"OK, Sibuna's back on." Amber said.

_~ Night ~_

Fabian, Amber, Patricia and I sat on the floor of my room. We sat in a square and held hands, which made me feel like I was going to summon a ghost instead of awaken a house. Both of which sounded weird.

"I have no idea what'll happen when I open this. If I open this." I said. "It's probably going to be horrifying. I'm making sure, are we all in this?"

We all shared looks with each other. "Sibuna." Fabian said first, making the gesture with a smile. The rest of us did the same.

I picked up the piece. "Eleven." I twisted it. "Zero seven." A stirring in my core became present. "Zero seven." A gurgling in the walls around passed through. "One nine." Amber closed her eyes. "Nine five." I squeezed my eyes shut.

Nothing happened. I relaxed. "So much less scarier than I believed." I laughed nervously.

"Is that it?" Patricia asked. "Do you think Victor did open it, and then seal it back up again?"

"Guys…" Fabian said in a scared tone, his face pale. He pointed behind us. The three of us turned, Amber gasped, whispering "what is that?"

There, suddenly engraved onto my bedroom wall, read "AWAKEN THE VOICE".

"Awaken the voice?" Patricia read.

"Aw, hell, how am I supposed to hid that from Victor?" I complained, trying to lighten the mood.

"What does it mean?" Fabian asked worriedly. "Mary Ann?"

"How the hell should I know?" I panicked.

"I'm leaving." Patricia said. She got up, so did the rest of us. Fabian and Patricia left. Amber and I went to our beds. I couldn't stop staring at the engraving in the wall. What could it mean? How did it get there? Millions of questions filled my head.

Eventually sleep overtook me…

Beep, beep, beep!

I groaned, shutting off the alarm on my clock. Tell me it was a dream… I held the locket in my hand, staring at the portrait of the girl inside. Today, I would get answers.

Do you hear me, house? Answers! And concise ones would be nice!

_~ Lunch ~_

During lunch, I went to the old people's home. When I went into Sarah's room, she was playing with the light on a glass prism.

"Hey Sarah." I said sweetly as I walked in.

She took a moment to answer, and at first I thought she didn't hear me, but then she said, "Tears of glass…"

I closed the door and sat down in chair next to her. "You know about that?"

"I put it back," she said. She wasn't look at me when she spoke. "It was so hard. Two steps forward, three steps back!" She smiled like a little girl learning to talk. She beamed at me, then her smile faded and she looked at the ground. "I couldn't find them…"

I squirmed when she looked at me intensely. "But you will," she said. "I know because you have the power."

She took my hands in her own. "Power?" I asked.

"I can hear it, you know." She said instead. "In whispers."

"Who's whispering, Sarah?"

"The house." She told me, like I should already have known. The house… whispers?

"The house whispers to you?" I repeated. "Does it whisper to me as well?"

"You have to follow the voice within," she instructed. "Trust it. Listen to it."

"'Follow the voice'? Is that what it means?"

"The house knows." She said.

"But, you told me the house was evil." I said in confusion.

"Oh, you misunderstood me," she shook her head. "It's the guardian who's evil."

"Victor?"

Something in her expression changed. "They tricked me. They both tricked me. I thought they liked me. But all they wanted was the secret. Ah, I, I wouldn't tell them." Why does she sound like a teenager talking about something innocent now? If the whole thing wasn't so sinister….

"I don't want to live forever." She moaned, leaning into her rocking chair.

"Alright, Sarah, you don't have to live forever." I assured her.

My phone beeped when Sarah let go of my hands. I flipped it open to find a text from Fabian. "Alfie tackled Andrews. Tell you more later." He wrote. I replied.

"What? Why? Got some info 'bout house. Sibuna later."

Mrs. Abbot came into the room. "Isn't it about time you head back?" she asked kindly. I check the time on my phone.

"Holy smokes, I missed class!" I exclaimed. "Thanks for everything, Mrs. Abbot. I'll see Emily again later." I picked up my bag and headed back to the house. Classes were already over, so I might as well just head back.

Since classes had just ended, Victor shouldn't have been expected us back yet. I climbed the stairs quickly. Victor was too focused on something in his office, so I slipped into the girls' dorm.

Picking locks came easy, and I made my way into the attic. However, I never got over how different the attic looked during the day that during the night. I stared at the stain glass window, and then the dusty books, and then I opened the secret panel to make sure no one touched anything. How they would get into the panel, I had no idea. _God, I am so paranoid..._

I stepped out and the panel shut behind me. "Hey, house." I said aloud. "It's Mary Ann. Sarah told me to listen to you. I'm here now, so can you please show me what you wanted me to find?"

Something in my gut pulled, and a box fell over a few feet away. I ran to it. It was full of papers. There were files, newspapers, and a book.

"No way." I whispered. I picked up a random newspaper, called The Tribune. "BOARDING SCHOOL FOUNDED ON ANUBIS ESTATE" read the headline.

'Victor Rodenmaar Junior, son of the late Victor Rodenmaar Senior, has founded a new school on the Anubis estate with help from his benefactors mister Rufus Zeno and Sarah Frobisher-Smythe.' There was a photo next to the article. There was Victor, and I mean Victor. He looked the same. A plaque that said 'Anubis' was next to him. He must have been standing in front of Anubis House. Next to the plaque was a middle-aged woman. She had bright hair from what I could tell (it was a black-and-white photo) and was dressed in serious business clothes. Something in my mind screamed, _It's Sarah!_

Next to Sarah was a man in a suit. That was Rufus!

But how come Sarah aged, but the two men with her look exactly the same as they do now?


	19. Recruits

_Exciting new installment! Review if you want, but you don't have to (unless you want Corbiere to attack while you sleep but that's no biggie). See you Friday!_

**CHAPTER NINETEEN HOUSE OF RECRUITS**

I got out of the attic and changed into jeans and an old sweater. I sat on my bed and read over the article.

It was just so creepy. Rufus and Victor looked exactly the same. And Sarah… Sarah looked like Rufus had described: bright and vibrant. To think she had changed so much….

My door opened and Fabian's head popped in. He smiled when he saw me, causing my heart to beat twice as fast. "Hey, you're back."

Patricia walked in soon after. "Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked.

"Well, I wasn't really looking for anything, but the house provided some creep stuff." I said, handing Fabian the article. Patricia looked over his shoulder.

"Whoa." Fabian commented. Patricia took the newspaper from him.

"This photo was actually taken in 1960?" Patricia sat on my bed.

"Yeah." I said.

"Rufus and Victor have hardly changed." Patricia said.

"But Sarah's aged like a normal person." I said.

"So, does this mean the elixir?" Fabian asked, smiling.

"It exists." I confirmed.

"And Victor's not the one taking it." Fabian deduced.

"You know when Rufus held me in that warehouse?" Patricia told us. "He said, him, Victor and Sarah went back a long way." Fabian took the article from her. "Well, looking at this, it seems they were once friends even."

"Well, business partners at least." Fabian said.

"Sarah said something about being tricked, betrayed." I told them.

"Guys, supper's ready!" Alfie popped in. I took the newspaper from Fabian quickly and hid it behind my back. "What is this, a little secret meeting?" He stepped in the room.

"Tell Trudy we'll be down in a bit." I told him. "We just need to finish some…. homework."

"Oh," his smiled vanished. "Yeah, alright then. But keep me in the loop, yeah? You know, we're like family now." He gave Fabian a punch in the arm and left.

"OK, what did I miss?" I asked. Patricia and Fabian shared a look.

Then they told me about how Alfie attacked Mrs. Andrews during class today, thinking she was an alien. Then, after school ended, they took Alfie into an empty classroom and explained everything. How there were no aliens, and that the puzzle pieces weren't relics but clues to a hidden treasure. (And apparently, Mick came back from his audition.)

"We should've discussed this beforehand." I said, rubbing my eyes. I got up and paced the room. "Alfie could screw this all up."

"We just told him a few things, that's all." Patricia explained. "Enough to keep him at bay."

"Still, this is exciting." He flashed the old newspaper. "It proves we were right all along about Victor, the elixir…"

"We still haven't gotten any proof though." Patricia countered. "That stuff we've got is just… water and herbs. According to the toxicology report."

"We picked up the wrong stuff, that's all." Fabian defended. "There were loads of bottles in the cellar."

"Well, in that case, don't we need to…"

"Go back down." I finished. They sighed in disappointment. "Let's go downstairs. We should fill Amber in so she doesn't explode like last time."

We walked downstairs. Amber was sitting with Alfie on the couch, talking.

"Amber, can we speak with you, please?" Fabian asked. The two of them got up. "Just Amber." Fabian told Alfie. "Sorry Alfie."

"Thanks a bunch." Alfie said, stalking off to somewhere else. Amber came to the three of us.

"OK, so we need to decide who goes down into the cellar and get the real elixir." Patricia said.

"Why aren't we including Alfie?" Amber asked. "He said he was one of us now."

I breathed out of my nose. "Fine, let's go."

We walked to the boys' room and I knocked on Alfie's door. He answered in a second, but when he saw it was us he went back to doing whatever. Thankfully, he didn't close the door, so we let ourselves in.

I explained to him how important it was to leave him out. "It's life and death, really. People have been hurt." I said.

"Yeah and Alfie was one of them." Amber said. "Remember when we hospitalized him?"

"Amber!" Patricia growled. "Shut up!"

"WHAT?" Alfie yelled.

"Ah, well, that stuff you drank…" Amber said nervously.

"We found it in the cellar." Fabian admitted.

"You could have killed me!" Alfie cried.

"But we didn't mean to! It was a mistake." I explained. "But at least we didn't."

"So what was it?" he asked.

"It wasn't the stuff we were looking for, unfortunately." Fabian said. "So we need to get some more." I slapped him in the arm.

"I'll do it." Alfie said immediately. "I'm sick of being left out. This way I get to prove myself. Please."

"Alfie-"

"You have to let me!" he interrupted Fabian. "I deserve to do this mission after what you almost did to me."

"He's right." Patricia said. "I vote Alfie goes."

"This isn't something you can vote on." I argued. "He could get seriously hurt! Again!"

"I'll go with him." Fabian said, "To make sure he doesn't do anything rash."

I felt my face go red with frustration. None of us should be going down there.

But Alfie wants to prove himself, half of my mind argued. He feels that he needs to. Not to mention it kills two birds with one stone.

But I can't risk him getting hurt again, the other half countered.

Fabian will be with him, the first half persuaded. If anyone besides you should go down there with Alfie, it's Fabian. You trust him to make the right choice, remember?

"Fine." I said. "But Fabian will do most of the searching."

Alfie smiled like a five year-old and gave me a bear hug. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" he celebrated. I pushed him back a bit.

"Let's go now, before it's too late." Patricia said. We all left and went into the kitchen, which was surprisingly empty.

"This'll be great." Alfie smiled. He leaned against the sink. "Us all together. Explorers. Mystery detectives. Adrenaline-seeking adventurers!"

"Alfie." Patricia cut him off sternly. "You have to take this seriously."

Alfie nodded, "So have we got torches and stuff."

"No," Patricia said. "And you'll be blindfolded."

I laughed. "Blindfolded?" Alfie repeated nervously.

"Patricia," I laughed. Turning to Alfie, I spoke. "No, you won't be blindfolded. No panicking."

"I'm not panicking." Alfie said too quickly.

"Aw, Alfie, it's OK." Amber assured him. "I'm scared too and I'm not even going."

Alfie stammered. "I'm not scared!" he said to us. "Who's scared?"

"All clear?" Fabian asked Amber and Patricia. They looked out: Amber looking into the living area, Patricia out into the hall. They looked back and nodded.

I saw Alfie squirm around, fear sparked in his eyes, but trying to appear tough. Should I really make him do this?

I took the locket from underneath my shirt. I crouched down by the sealed oven and pressed the locket to the oval-cut. The door swung back to show the passageway.

"Cool." Alfie muttered, all fear gone for a split second.

I got up and explained the plan. "We'll keep watch. If it's too dangerous to come out, I'll knock thrice."

"Are you ready?" Fabian asked Alfie.

"Of course I'm ready." Alfie brushed off.

"Sibuna." I did the gesture. The others did it. Alfie said the word, but was lost at the gesture so he just waved his hand in front of his face.

"Go get 'em, tiger." I said, waving to the oven door. "Try not to fail." The boys went down.

The three of us went to the dining table and waited. The lights flickered. "This house is giving me the creeps." Patricia said.

"Don't hurt its feelings." I scolded, rubbing the table soothingly.

"Dinner smells great." Mick said, entering the kitchen. He burned his hand on the working oven's door.

"I got this." I told the girls. I got up and joined Mick in the kitchen. "Use a towel," I offered, handing him one.

"Thanks," he smiled as he took it. I leaned in front of the sealed oven and knocked on it three times with my foot.

"What was that?" Mick asked.

"Plumbing?" I shrugged. I walked back to the table. "Problem avoided. For now." I told them.

"So-o-o-o…" Amber smiled knowingly. "How are you and Fabian?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, titling my head to the side in confusion.

Patricia grinned. "It's so obvious, even I can tell."

"Tell what?" I asked, eyes flickering between her and Amber.

"That you and Fabian like each other!" Amber squealed. My face flushed.

"W-What?" I stammered. "N-No, we're just friends!"

"Yeah, friends." Patricia repeated sarcastically.

"We are!" I protested, blushing like mad.

"When Mick and I were together, we had couple name. Mickber. What would Mary Ann and Fabian end up as?" Amber questioned.

"We aren't–"

"Mabiann." Patricia interrupted. She pronounced it _may-bee-ann_.

Amber squealed. "That sounds so-o-o-o cute!"

"Amber!" I yelled. "Patricia!"

Someone screamed from the passage to the cellar. I looked to the girls. "Alfie."

We ran into the kitchen as the boys crawled out of the oven. "I knew this was bad…" I said aloud.

"Alfie? Speak to me, are you OK?" Amber asked. Alfie leaned against the sink, breathing heavily.

"What happened?" Patricia asked.

"I was winding Fabian up," Alfie lied.

"Did you get it?" I asked Fabian.

"I drop the sample." He confessed.

I groaned. "We'll have to go another night. It's far too risky now." I took out my locket and shut the oven door.

_~ The next day ~_

"MARY ANN NORTON!" a voice boomed across the hallway at school. I stopped, Fabian stopping as well. I turned around to see Mr. Winkler running to me.

"Yes, sir?" I asked, scared.

"Have you seen the papers?" he asked. I noticed he had a newspaper in one hand.

"No sir, why?" I asked, confused.

"You have to read this," he said excitedly. He handed me to newspaper and walked away. I looked down at it, and saw a picture of the poster for the play I wrote.

"OMIGOD MY PLAY'S IN THE NEWSPAPER?!" I screeched. My eyes flickered to read the article. Apparently a critic was in our audience and witnessed our school play. And they loved it! They said it was ancient and full of dark meaning. They said the writer of the play, Mary Ann Norton aka me, did an excellent job writing, as well as acting the main role of Sally. Then they gave a brief summary of what the play was about and then a finishing comment on the beautifully written production.

"OMGOMGOMGOMG!" I fanned myself with one hand. "Theylikedittheylikedittheyli kedit!" I looked to Fabian, who was grinning at me. Squealing, I gave him a giant hug. When I let go, I looked back at the newspaper. "I've got to tell Gran… and Amber… and Trudy… OMG…."

"Congrats, Mary Ann." He told me. I gave him another hug.

"Thank you so much for your help in this." I told him. I carefully shoved the newspaper into my bag.

"Hey, have either of you seen Alfie?" Patricia asked, coming up to us.

I frowned. "No, is everything alright?"

"I haven't seen him all morning. I'm getting worried." She explained

"Let's look for him." Fabian said.

It didn't take too long. We found him in an empty classroom, staring at the desk he was sitting at.

"Lewis, you alright?" I asked, rushing towards him. I sat on the desk he was sitting at.

"Last night in the cellar," he said. "I remembered. I remembered everything."

"What did you see?" Patricia asked.

"Mr. Sweet." He replied. "Mrs. Andrews. _Mr. Winkler_." What? Our teachers?

"And some other people." Alfie continued. "They were… chanting. And they mentioned… the Chosen One. And Victor drank from a skull and… it was horrible. And one of them was in a mask, a dog mask. It's what I dream about. That face is staring at me and coming for me." He clutched his head. I looked at Fabian in alarm.

"Alfie." Patricia said calmingly. She placed a hand on his arm. "It's OK."

"Best guess on what he would drink from a skull." I murmured.

"The elixir." Fabian agreed.

"What elixir?" Alfie asked.

"It's a potion and Ankh. It keeps you young." Fabian explained.

"Ankh?" he repeated. "That was another word."

"The Cup of Ankh." I realized. "The Cup of Immortality!"

"Ah, hello!" Amber walked into the room. "Very important stuff to talk about here." We all looked at her. "So, I've only got twenty-four hours to make sure I win Election Factor. Hands up if you're going to help me blow Mara out of the race."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. None of the others said anything.

"Some club." Amber scoffed. "You people are so unsupportive. Running around for the Cup of Ankh when you could help with my one chance to shine. Thanks. Oh, and by the way Alfie, you're fired."

Alfie just sprawled across his desk in a moan. The bell for next period rang.

"Class time, people, this is a school." I complained. We all went to class.

"I think the teachers are looking for the Cup as well," I confided in Fabian as we entered class. "We've got to find it first." I got nervous and started to babble. "What if we don't? What'll happen then? Oh God, if we don't–"

"I know," Fabian interrupted. "We have to. It feels like we've hit a dead end. No more clues to go on apart from the ever-so-helpful 'listen to the voice'."

"It could mean that we have to listen to Sarah's voice." I suggested. "On the cylinders."

"Do you want to do it now?" he asked, already reaching for his bag.

"No!" I grabbed his hand. "We need to listen to them on the phonograph."

"Why?"

"I think it's the reason I went to the attic after seeing Sarah." I explained.

"Ah, one of your _feelings_?" he teased.

"Yeah," I rolled my eyes. "But you don't have to say it like that. _Feelings_." I mimicked. He laughed at my poor impression of him.

"Where is everybody?" Mrs. Andrews asked as she came in. "Let's open our books to page sixty-two please."

"Sorry I'm late, miss." Jerome said as he entered the door. "Campaign business." He was stifling a laugh, so I raised an eyebrow at him warily.

_~ After class ~_

Some of the kids in the hall were laughing. When we got out, I saw why. Jerome had put up 'Vote Amber' posters, all of them showing a fake picture of Amber with glasses, braces, acne, and a strict bun. That jerk had the nerve to tape one on my locker.

I immediately ripped it off and in half. What sicko does that? Alfie and Patricia were laughing at one elsewhere. Then Amber stepped into the hall…

Oh God, her expression struck my heart, even though I did nothing wrong. She started moving up and down the hall, tearing poster after poster down. Jerome taunted her. When she got to the last poster in the hall, tears were ruining her make-up.

"I hate you Jerome, I hate you!" she yelled, and then ran off. I picked up all the posters she tore down and ripped them in half. I walked up to a snickering Jerome.

"Laugh at this!" I kicked him between the legs. Hard. Let's just say, the hall got quiet.

I ran after Amber.

_~ 5 Minutes Later ~_

I found Amber outside the school, curled up in a ball and sobbing.

"Ambs, it's Mary Ann." I said, making sure she wasn't alarmed.

"Go away, I don't want anyone to see me like this." she muttered loudly.

"Too bad. I don't want to." I sat next to her, nudging her shoulder.

"Why would he do that?" Amber sobbed. "That's not even me!"

"Jerome's an ass," I told her. "He gets his kicks from doing stuff like that."

"That's sick." She spat.

"I kicked him in his manhood," I told her. "And I ripped the posters in half."

"Thanks, Mary Ann." She laughed.

"It's what best friends do." I said, using her words. "I think I can let you call me Mary now. While I prefer Mary Ann, you're my best friend."

"Thanks." She looked up at me with a smile. "Since classes are over, can you come shopping with me?"

"Wha-now?" I stammered. She nodded.

"Please, please, please?" she begged. I sighed and gave in.

"But I don't have any money on me." I realized.

"I can pay for it." She brushed off. We stood up.

"Are you sure?" I double-checked.

"Positive. When I'm sad, I shop. But I can't go alone, you know how dangerous it is out there."

I laughed. "Fine. I'll text Fabian to tell Trudy we're out." I took out my phone. 'Found Ambs. Going shopping. Tell Trudy we'll be back later.' Send.

We got a taxi outside school grounds. After two minutes of riding in the cab, my phone went off.

It was Fabian. 'Good luck.'

I chuckled. 'Thanks. I'll need it.'

"Are you texting your _boyfriend_?" Amber asked.

"For the last time, we're just friends!" I argued. She rolled her eyes with a 'whatever'.

_~ Late Afternoon ~_

In short, Amber and I spent about three hours shopping. She got three pairs of shoes, a dress, and two tops. She tried on about fifteen different outfits and made me give my opinion.

Then she made me wait in a dressing stall while she ventured out and brought back more and more clothes to try on. I got a red dress top, two pairs of jeans, and an orange blouse. I found a llama hat (like the Youtuber danisnotonfire's) and just HAD to get it, so I got it as well. In short: awesomeness was activated.

When we got back to the House, we were just in time for dinner. We ate in an awkward silence, and then Sibuna went up to the attic. Amber and Alfie stayed behind to work on Amber's campaign.

"I don't understand what we're doing." Patricia complained. Fabian moved a box so there was more room. "We've listened to these already."

Ignoring her, I held up a cylinder. "This was blank, wasn't it?" I asked Fabian, who started assembling the phonograph. "But why?"

"Because it was damaged?" Fabian guessed.

"It could also be fake." I smirked. I studied the cylinder.

"Fake?" Patricia repeated.

"It just doesn't look right." I said. "it's different from the others." I started twisting at the top. "I think it could…." Pop. The top came off. "… come off." I laughed. Inside was a piece of paper.

"You're a genius!" Fabian exclaimed, sitting next to me. I pulled the paper out.

"What does it say?" Patricia asked. I unraveled it and read it aloud.

"To find the secret of the past, look beyond this world through glass." I looked at the two and smiled. "Sounds awesome."


	20. Fates

_Whoop whoop, twentieth chapter! Thanks for sticking with me so long. I hated to have to write this chapter (You'll see why), but it must be done, so enjoy. Prepare for lots and lots of angst. See you next time._

**CHAPTER TWENTY HOUSE OF FATES**

"OK," Fabian told me two days later. He dragged the mirror forward. I peered behind it and sighed. "Is there anything written on the back?" he asked. I shook my head and started pushing it back.

"Look beyond the world through glass. Beyond the world, what does that mean exactly?" He looked at his reflection with a frown.

"What are you two doing?" Victor asked, suddenly on the staircase again. I finished pushing the mirror back against the wall.

"I thought I dropped something behind here," I lied quickly. "Guess not."

"Always snooping." Victor mused. "Get off to school immediately." We made our way to the door when he called out, "Oh, and Miss Norton." I stopped in the doorway. He waved me back.

"Yes?" I asked politely.

"Very public spirited of you, I'm sure, to visit the sick and elderly," he said. "However, try and restrict your visits in future to weekends only."

"What visits?" I asked. "I go lots of places."

"Emily Grant." He said. My stomach clenched. He knew.

"Oh, yeah. Weekends. Weekends only." I said. I nodded and walked out the door to Fabian.

"That was weird." I said. Fabian glanced at his watch.

"We better hurry, or we'll be late for class." He said.

"Then why are we standing here? Move, move, move!" I smiled as I pushed him forward. "Race you there!"

_~ Before class ~_

"What are you think about?" Fabian asked, jarring me back to the reality I zoned out from.

"Victor." I told him. "It was like… he knew about Emily being Sarah."

"How would he know that?" Fabian questioned. "You're being paranoid, I'm sure."

"Just because I'm overly suspicious, doesn't mean he isn't out for my blood." I reasoned. Fabian laughed and sat down. "If he knows, then Sarah's in big trouble, and we're following close behind."

"Mary Ann, really?" Fabian gave me a look.

Amber came into the room. "Thanks for your help with this campaign stuff, guys." She said, throwing flyers onto the desk in front of us. "I only had to carry all this stuff from the art room."

"Sorry, you never asked." I told her.

"I thought Alfie was going to be your campaign manager." Mara said.

"Not anymore." Amber replied. I went back to my own things, only to be brought back by Jerome's loud speech.

"… and I'll do everything." He said. "OK?"

"That's very kind of you, Jerome," Mara said slowly.

"Yeah, the thing is I am not kind." Jerome said, "And I'm not a sucker either, so you do it yourself." He turned his back to Mara and faced Amber. "Come on, Amber, let's celebrate."

"Huh?" She replied.

"I'm your new campaign manager." He told her.

"Are you really going to do that?" I asked her. "Remember just the other day he sabotaged you."

"He suffered his punishment." Amber said. "I'm sure you kicked him hard enough."

Jerome squirmed a bit, like he was remembering that.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." Fabian muttered to me. I giggled.

_~ After classes ~_

I got dressed in my new pair of jeans and orange blouse. Llama hat on my head, I was prepared for anything.

Except Victor.

Fabian and I entered the living area, and Victor yelled at Jerome to get his feet off the table. "I want all of you in bed by nine o'clock or there will be consequences!" he threatened.

"What's bugging him?" Jerome scoffed. Something bright caught my eye. I picked up a familiar green, orange, and white scarf from the couch.

"This is Sarah's." I whispered to Fabian. "She's been here."

Fabian looked at the scarf with a puzzled look on his face. What could this mean?

_~ Night ~_

My head throbbed. Open your eyes, Mary Ann. Someone needs to talk to you. **My eyelids went up, and I saw Sarah again. This time she was closer, sitting next to me with her hands on mine. She wore a bright pink shirt, but that was all I could notice. My heart wrenched, though I didn't know why.**

**I smiled sleepily at her. She was grinning at me. "Sarah…"**

**"Goodbye, my darling." She said. "It's your quest now. Don't let anyone stop you, my love. There are others also searching, all less pure of heart than you. It's up to you now. Now it's time for me to go."**

**"Goodbye, Sarah." I said, surprised that my voice didn't crack. Her word choice sounded… too different. I must be misunderstanding her again. **

**She got up and kissed my forehead.**

As soon as her lips touched my skin, my eyes flew open and I shot up. I took a deep breath. Then another. Then another. I clutched her scarf, which I held to my chest.

Another dream? But, she couldn't be… no, she wasn't….

I hugged the scarf to my chest. "Sarah…" I whispered. No, don't cry Mary Ann. You don't know anything.

But it was obvious. I was in denial of the fact that Sarah was now gone forever.

I laid back down and curled up into a ball. No crying. Not yet.

I didn't sleep anymore that night.

When Amber woke up, she found me in my feral position dozing off, eyes staring ahead but empty. My blinking and breathing were the only ways for her to tell I was still alive.

She got ready for the big campaign thing while I struggled to get myself out of bed. I took a shower to relax my stiff muscles and then dressed for school.

"It's show time." Amber said seriously when I returned. She walked out. I blindly followed.

_Get it together, Mary Ann,_ my mind scolded. _You don't have any proof._

_But she _came_ to you,_ my heart said. I stared blankly at the cereal I couldn't bring myself to eat. My stomach hurt.

I heard the murmur of Jerome's voice. My name. Then Mick said something. A flash of orangey red, and a hand on my shoulder, made me blink.

"Mary Ann, sweetie," Trudy said gently. Oh God, she was going to tell me. "Could you come with me, please?" The entire stared at me, but I didn't have anything in me to feel embarrassed.

I followed Trudy into the hall. She faced me and held my arms.

"There's some bad news, I'm afraid." She started. Just say it. Just spit it out already. No sugar coating. "The old people's home just called." My breath shorted to struggled gasps. No crying, she hasn't said anything.

But it didn't matter. "Sarah's dead." I said aloud.

"Sarah?" Trudy repeated. My eyes brimmed and tears spilled. "It's Emily. So sad." I hugged Trudy tightly. The world was spinning. Sarah was gone. Dead. But she couldn't. There were still so many questions I had. Trudy patted my back and couldn't breathe properly. I was sure the others could hear me from the dining room.

"Shh," Trudy said calmingly. "Now, Ms. Abbot wants to see you. There's something Emily wanted you to have." I nodded in understanding.

"I'll… go get… my bag." I managed to say. I ran up to my room before she could say anything.

I shut the door behind me, then my knees gave way. I fell on the floor. I clenched my chest and started to wheeze, tears streaking down my cheeks endlessly. Something was missing now. It was like my parents all over again. I wouldn't cry, even though I knew deep down they were dead, until I was sure.

Sarah was gone. Sweet, old lady Sarah was gone. Dear, crazy Sarah was gone.

I sat there and cried for a good minute before I realized I still had to see Ms. Abbot. For the last time, probably.

I wiped my face dry, and then grabbed my bag. Trudy was waiting by the stairs, and said she would tell Victor to tell Mr. Sweet I was gone. I couldn't face the rest of the house. Not yet.

So I ran out the door.

And all the way to the home.

No crying. Hold strong for Sarah. For now.

Ms. Abbot led me to Sarah room. It pained me how quickly her stuff was already packed. Four boxes rested on her bed, which had no covers.

"The funeral's tomorrow," she told me. "It's all been taken care of by her nephew. You're welcome to attend."

"Thanks." I replied. "I didn't know she had relatives."

"Oh, just the one. I don't see much of him. Now," She reached over and took a shoebox-sized box from the bed. "Emily wanted me to give you this. It was when we got back from Anubis House. She was… so much calmer after the visit. Contented, almost. She told me you'd know what to do with it." She gave me the box. On top, it said 'Emily Grant' in cursive. "And that it was 'your turn now.' Whatever that means."

"Yeah," I smiled. "She said something like that."

"Would you like some tea?" she asked. I nodded.

_~ Back at the house ~_

I sat on a chair facing my bed, the box and it's contents spread across it. There were so many things. Pictures, papers, some jewelry. Like her own precious box of secrets. My alarm clock read that it was Break time, and that the campaigns were going on. Surely Amber wouldn't mind me being absent.

I stared at a photo of her as a child. She was cute, with twin braids and a bright smile. It made my eyes water again.

A knock came at my door. I wiped my eyes. "Open." I said loudly. Patricia, Alfie, and Fabian came in. They circled around me, probably wondering why I was sitting on a chair by my bed.

"Hey," Fabian greeted with a soft smile. "Just checking you're OK."

They were all smiling. They had no idea. Sarah was–

"Sarah's dead." I whispered, not trusting my voice. A tear fell silently down my face.

Their expressions saddened immediately. I gestured to the stuff on my bed. "This is her stuff." I said slowly. "She wanted me to get them."

"Mary Ann…" Fabian said softly. "I'm so sorry." His arms wrapped around me and I leaned against his stomach.

"She did it again." I told them. "In a dream last night. She sat on my bed and said goodbye."

"Wh-like a ghost or an alien?" Alfie asked cautiously. I glared dangerously at him.

"Alfie!" Patricia scolded.

"Seriously, it freaks me out!" Alfie defended.

"Well," I said in a low voice. There were no more tears for the moment, "then freak out about the fact that our only hope of finding any answers at anything, which could help us in any way, is now gone. Forever. Otherwise, shut the fuck up."

"Sorry." He said. I hugged Sarah's scarf.

Patricia flipped around in the files. "Um," she said. She passed something to Fabian.

"Gustav and Isabella Zeno…" he read. "Rufus's parents."

"What's that?" I asked. Fabian opened it and read it completely.

"This says that Rufus's parents became the legal guardians of Sarah two years after her parents died." He said. He flipped it over. "And there's a copy of Rufus's birth certificate right here. He's definitely the same age as Sarah."

Alfie's phone beeped. "Uh oh, it's Amber. She's wondering where we are." He read the text.

"Do you want to come back to the school with us, Mary Ann?" Fabian asked.

I shook my head. "I just need some time." I said. He nodded in understanding, and drove Patricia and Alfie out. I took out my iPod and played my favorite playlist. I laid on the floor and stared up at the ceiling.

After a while, I shut my eyes and lost myself into the music...


	21. Funerals

_Life sucks. My parents never understand me. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. Thanks for Favoriting/Following. Enjoy._

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE HOUSE OF FUNERALS**

Mara won the elections for school rep. Amber was pissed off at me for not being there, but when she found out why, she quickly forgave me. She then attacked my closet for a mourning outfit for the funeral.

And the scariest part: I let her.

I glanced at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a long, plain, black dress and black boots. My auburn bangs were clipped out of the way. My caramel eyes were decorated with black eyeliner. I had no jacket. I wore her locket underneath.

"OK, so I got beat by a mathelete in the elections." Amber said. "I can't hide away in here forever, can I?"

"Neither can I." I remarked.

She didn't hear. "It's not like my life is over or anything."

I sent a cold stare at her.

She spun around. "I'm so-o-o sorry, Mary Ann!"

"It's fine." I looked out the window. "You are right, your life isn't over."

Fabian stood up and faced me. "You've always got us, remember." He promised.

I smiled sadly at him. "I know."

Amber handed me some money. "Why don't you buy some flowers?" She suggested. "They can be from all of us. Please, I'd like you to." I thanked her and pocketed the cash.

"Alfie, she is not!" Patricia argued, barging into the room as she did so.

"I didn't–"

"Tell him, Fabian!" she interrupted. "He reckons that Joy is one of them."

"I didn't say she is," Alfie argued. "But her dad definitely is."

"Whoa! Whoa!" Fabian intercepted. "Wait, rewind, what?"

Alfie sighed. "Trixie was showing me some photos on her phone."

"And one of them is of me and Joy, and her mum and dad." Patricia said.

"And it was him," Alfie continued. "The man from the cellar? Joy's dad!"

"I knew it! He is evil!" I kicked the bedpost angrily… only to clutch my foot in pain.

"Well, even if Joy's dad is involved," Patricia swayed. "There is no way that Joy would ever be."

"She did back up his story." Fabian voiced my thoughts.

"FABIAN!" Patricia spat. "This is Joy we're talking about! Joy. You and her were really close, remember?"

I shifted a bit. Awkward conversation alert! And I totally called it on the Joy/Fabian thing! So… why did it hurt to think about it?

"Wh-No!" Fabian protested, "we weren't that close." He seemed to be telling me that more than anybody else.

"You people are unbelievable!" Patricia cried. She stalked out of the room.

"Says the one arguing on a funeral day!" I yelled after her.

_~ At the cemetery ~_

"And so today, we entrust our sister Emily to God's mercy." The priest said as we stood there.

"Her name was Sarah," I growled under my breath. It wasn't his fault, he didn't know.

"And now we commit her body to the ground." He continued. "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

I stepped forward and placed a bouquet of pink carnations (which, in the language of flowers, meant "I will never forget you" as well as a mother's love) with the other flowers. When I stepped back, I saw Victor holding a single red rose.

The priest said a few prayers out to Sarah, and then Ms. Abbot walked me back to the old people's home for a luncheon.

"She would have been very touched that you came." Ms. Abbot informed me. "By the way, did you open–"

"It was a very beautiful service, Ma'am." I interrupted, sensing Victor behind me. "I thought it was touching."

"Now you all take a seat," Ms. Abbot told the people inside. "I'll get a cup of tea on." I sat down next to the priest.

"A person mourned is a person loved, my dear," he spoke to me.

"I believe so." I agreed. I noticed Victor wasn't there. "Please excuse me." I said politely, and got up. Taking myself down the familiar halls, I stopped in front of Sarah's room. It was open, so I peeked through.

"…something that belongs to me, I believe." Victor said. He was standing there… with Rufus! I pressed myself against the wall.

"Oh, the elixir?" Rufus said. "It's all gone, I'm afraid, or very nearly." I peeked back to see that the room was totally trashed! "So is your supply."

"I'm not talking about your pettish theft three years ago, I'm talking about the items you took from my safe." Did he mean the puzzle pieces? So that's why he hadn't said anything, because he thought Rufus took them?

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rufus said after a pause. It made him sound suspicious, if I hadn't already known.

"Oh, I think you do." Victor mused.

Rufus seemed to play along. "And what would you give me, Victor, in return for these items?"

"I don't do deals."

"Oh come, come. You know that's not true." Rufus taunted. "We made a deal all those years ago to swindle Sarah out of her home!"

"She wanted to sell, she always hated the place." Victor brushed off. Rufus laughed.

Blood roared in my ears. What!

I missed the next part, but the two started a tennis match.

"Where is the Chosen One?" Rufus would ask.

"Where are the Ankh pieces?" Victor would reply.

"We are going around in circles, old man!" Rufus snarled. "You do realize that Joy, by herself, is totally useless?"

Whoa. So she was involved somehow!

"If you mean, do I also have the seven Acolytes, then yes it has all been arranged."

"Oh yes, the tipping of the scales of life, that old legend. But only I know what that really means! Now, you better tell me where Joy is or I will make you. Because only I know the truth. And only I know what will really happen when the Chosen One and the Cup come together." My eyes widened. "Now tell me where she is."

Just then, Ms. Abbot came. She opened the door. "What's going on?" she asked. "Renee? Now why weren't you at your aunt's funeral?" He pushed past us and we made eye contact.

There was nothing in his blue eyes. Fabian also had blue eyes, but Rufus's were nothing like Fabian's. Fabian's eyes were kind and compassionate. Rufus's were… empty.

"You of all people should show some respect!" Ms. Abbot called after him as Rufus fled. She looked back at the room. "Oh my goodness…"

My eyes met with Victor's this time. They were full of hate and loathing. I almost shrunk, but I detected a bit of… self-loathing?

I held his stare. Eventually, he coughed and stalked out of the room.

_~ Back at Anubis House ~_

Sibuna held a meeting in the dining room. I told them about everything I saw, but left out my stare-down with Victor.

"Rufus was definitely one of them." I finished. "Oh, and they said Joy was some sort of chosen one."

"I told you she was part of it!" Alfie said pointedly at Patricia.

"Alfie, she is not part of it." She argued. "Maybe she's not choosing to be chosen." There was a silent pause. "I need to get a hold of her." Patricia moaned.

"So Rufus was one of them?" Amber changed the subject.

"Yeah, but they either kicked him out or he left or something." I explained. "Vicky also thinks Rufus has the pieces. But he called them 'Ankh pieces', whatever that means. I've got the vibes that they are more than just clues."

"OK guys," Fabian said. "Listen up. I have some news as well. I overheard the teachers talking, and tonight they're going to initiate Jason fully into the Society."

"So, we're going back down to the cellar?" Alfie guessed nervously. Fabian sighed, but it was inevitable. We had to go down there.

"Miss Norton," Victor called as he entered the room. I turned to look at him. "A word, my office." He left.

"What now?" I complained. I looked Sibuna and then left. He waited for me in his office, door open. I walked in and sat down stiffly in a chair. He shut the door and paced around. I kept my eyes on Corbiere, which was turned to look at me.

"I know," he spoke to me, "that you know that Emily Grant was, in fact, Sarah Frobisher-Smythe, so let us not pretend, shall we? I also know that you are aware of her link to this house." He leaned on the back of my chair and stared at me. He got up and paced again.

"She told me she used to live her." I said truthfully. "But you never know, she wasn't always clear on things."

"Listen to me," he said in a low voice. He sat down at his desk. "Rufus Zeno is an extremely dangerous man, you have surely seen that for yourself." I nodded. Of course Zeno was dangerous. "I can protect you." I stared at him blankly.

"I don't know anything else." I lied. "Other than Sarah used to live here, that Rufus is after Joy's dad for government stuff, and Joy went into hiding. But you already told us that."

On cue, Trudy called from downstairs. "Victor! Delivery!"

"Get out of here." Victor ordered. I got up swiftly and left. Sibuna was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. Fabian smiled at me when we made eye contact, and Amber winked at me. I left out a breath of relief when I got to them.

Victor followed closely behind. Trudy handed him a large crate. He signed for it, regarded us, and walked back upstairs.

"Thank you," Trudy said to the postman. "I'm sure he's thrilled with… whatever it is." The postman left. Trudy came to us, we were still standing around in the hall, and gave us a look to tell us to move on. I glanced back to where Victor had gone, and entered the living area.

"Are you alright?" Fabian asked. I sat down.

"Yeah, totally. He only attacked me with Corbiere." I joked. No one laughed. Well, Alfie chuckled.

"So," Amber said, bringing the seriousness back. "What's he got in the box?"

"Something for the ceremony, maybe?" Fabian guessed.

"What box, what ceremony?" Jerome asked, suddenly behind me.

"None of your business." Patricia snapped.

"Alfie," he turned.

"Uh…" I shot him a look of hopefulness. "Victor's… got a box. And… and I said, that maybe he's trying to build himself a robot girlfriend and then get married."

I started to laugh. "Yeah, I can actually see that!"

"Right," Jerome said, not buying it. "Fine, keep your secrets. I could not care less!" He stormed out.

"He seemed to care." I pouted. The others laughed again.

_~ Night ~_

The girls and I snuck down to the kitchen around midnight.

"Amber!" Fabian whispered. "What's with the huge bag?"

Amber seemingly brought a duffle bag from our room. Even I had no idea, and was still questioning her. "Supplies for our stakeout," she explained. "In case for emergencies."

"Where's Victor?" I asked. "He wasn't in his office."

"I don't know…" Fabian muttered.

"What if he's already down there?" Alfie asked.

"I don't know if I want to do this, guys." Amber said.

My gut pulled. The oven door opened on its own behind the guys. We all turned to look at it. What?

"OK, I'm certain I don't want to do this." Amber said, scared.

"It's only the house," my mouth said without me realizing. "The house is saying that it's safe to go down."

"I hate it when the house talks," Amber whispered.

"The house can hear you." I replied. "The house knows all."

"OK," Fabian said. "Let's do it."

"I'm going to stay here." Patricia announced. "There's… something I have to do."

"Mercer?" I guessed. She nodded. We did the Sibuna gesture in unison. The others followed. Patricia left, and the four of us ventured into the cellar.

We looked around for a hiding spot. "Over here," Fabian led us to a small area, mostly covered by a slab of wall except for a small opening the size of a door. There were a couple crates, telling me it was like an extra storage space. We all sat down on the ground.

"It's cold." Alfie stated. Amber opened her bag and handed him a fur coat. "Thanks."

"Anyone else?" she asked. She handed Fabian a blanket. "See? The bag wasn't such a bad idea after all." She offered me a bright red coat. "Mary?"

"No thanks," I rebuffed quickly. I curled up to give myself extra body heat. The cellar was so cold, it was like someone made it into a meat locker. "I'm good. Besides, the red's too bright. They could see us."

"You can use this if you want to," Fabian offered part of the blanket. Before I could argue, he placed one half of the blanket over me. It was really warm, but I scooted closer to Fabian anyways. I noticed Alfie and Amber share a look. I remembered Amber and Patricia talking about "Mabiann" and blushed. I ducked my head in hopes no one noticed.

The cellar door opened. We all froze and moved out of sight. Six people came down. Mr. Sweet, Mrs. Andrews, Mr. Winkler, two people I didn't recognize, and the Joy's dad. Victor then came down. They dressed in colored robes, and Victor walked around lighting candles.

I almost laughed. He always went on about fire hazards (I think he hates candles) but here he was, nonchalantly lighting wax sticks on fire with a cigarette lighter.

"Time to become a full member of the Society, Jason." He spoke. The four of us peeked our head past the wall to watch.

"You already know about the Elixir of Life," Mrs. Andrew said.

"Brewed by Victor's father to slow down the aging process." Our History and Drama teacher stated.

"I am moving proof," Victor informed him. "How old do you think I am, Jason?" He didn't give him to answer. "Ninety-five years of age. I am ninety five!" My jaw dropped. Whoa, he's old!

"You look amazing," Winkler said in shock. "For ninety five."

"It's a potent beverage, yes." Victor mused. He picked up a bottle that looked just like the herbal thing I gave Alfie. "But unfortunately, this is all we have left."

"Sadly, Victor's father had an accident before he could pass on the secret." Mrs. Andrews told Mr. Winkler.

"Victor's tried many times over the years to replicate his father's recipe, but he, alas, has been unable to do so." Mr. Sweet said.

"None of that will matter, soon." Victor carried on. "Once we unite the Ankh wit the Chosen One, we will not longer need the elixir. We can tip the scales of life and all become truly immortal." They all moved towards a statue of Anubis. Victor stood in front, and raised his arms.

"Legend has it," Joy's father told Jason, "that when the Elixir of Life is drunk from the Ankh–"

"That's Joy's dad!" Fabian whispered.

"–the person drinking from the Cup will gain immortality." He finished.

"And one day, very soon, we shall achieve this." Victor said. He started to chant, and placed a jackal mask – much like Patricia's in the play – over Jason's face. The teachers put on their hoods and walked around Victor and Jason. They started to chant alongside Victor. It was terrifyingly weird to watch.

They stopped after a moment. Victor picked up a flask filled an orange liquid. "Welcome, new novice." He said, lifting the flask up high. "Deliver you from the Valley of the Dead, and to the Mountain of Eternal Life." He started to chant again, and I saw him reach inside the crate he had gotten earlier. He lifted out a snake, long and slim. He continued to chant, as did the others, and brought the snake to an upside-down skull. He forced the snake to inject some venom into the skull. I winced, and then he put the snake back into the crate.

Then, the most horrifying thing happened. Victor lifted the skull, and brought it to his lips and drank.

"YUCK!" Amber exclaimed. I clamped a hand over her mouth and the four of us hid behind the wall again.

They stopped chanting. "What was that?" Joy's dad asked. I huddled between Amber and Fabian, both struggling to breath quietly. I heard Victor coming closer, and squeezed my eyes shut. I held my breath.

Oh dear if we get caught–


	22. Constellations

_Mysteries of Anubis__ has gotten 2,000 views and 35 reviews! This calls for celebration, so here's another chapter._

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO HOUSE OF CONSTELLATIONS**

I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut. We are definitely dead now. A rat squeaked by.

"It's only a rat." Victor announced. I felt him walk back to the group. I breathed out slowly. They started chanting again. We didn't dare look back at them.

After a long time of chanting, they stopped. Altogether, they left the cellar. We waited a few minutes, to make sure they were gone, and then escaped from our spot.

"That was so close!" Fabian said as he crawled out of the oven and into the kitchen.

"Victor must really want to stay young," Amber stated, getting out. "He drank snake poison. I mean, that's what plastic surgery's for."

"So, are we still searching for this treasure or what?" Alfie asked, out into the kitchen. I crawled out and closed the oven. "Or have the teachers got it? Or this Rufus Zeno dude?"

I shushed him. "Right now, let's just get back to bed. Sibuna, during lunch." They nodded and we left.

Victor, thankfully, wasn't in his office, so we got to our room quickly.

_~ Next Day, Lunch Break ~_

Sibuna met up at our grove by the burnt tree. We sat in a circle, the puzzle pieces laid out on my jacket.

"So," I said, "Seeing what happened last night, I think our main priority should be finding the Cup. We definitely need to find it before them."

"Yeah, imagine what Victor might do with the secret of eternal life." Patricia said. I shuddered to think about it. "World domination."

Alfie laughed. "No, world domination to Victor is six billion people in bed by ten PM."

I laughed. "It's funny because it's probably true!"

We spent a moment to laugh, then I drew back to seriousness. "These… things–pieces–whatever, they are a key in some way. But, until we have them all, we won't know what it is."

"OK guys, we need to get our brains into gear." Fabian encouraged. He recited the clue. "To find the secret of the past, you must look beyond the world through glass."

"It's not a mirror." I added. "We've already checked them."

"You can't see through mirrors anyway," Amber said.

"Oh yeah…" I realized. "We probably should have gone to you first." Amber nodded at me.

"Have you seen the time?" Patricia said, looking at her watch, "We were due back from lunch five minutes ago!"

Everyone packed up. "I've got to get this stuff behind the panel, so I'll catch you later." I grinned. "Sibuna?"

They did the gesture. Except Alfie, who again waved his hand in front of his face. They walked off, but Fabian stayed behind.

"OK, see you at school." He said. "And, be careful?"

"Psh, I'm the master at careful." I joked. He gave me a funny look. "Fine, I'm almost always careful." Satisfied with my answer, he walked away. I picked up my jacket and headed back to the house.

_~ Skip ~_

I relocked the attic door with my pin. When I turned to walk away, Victor stood there. I froze.

"I suspected for a long time someone was still going up there." Victor mused. My blood felt like ice sliding through my veins. "Now I know who and I know how." He walked up to me, staring at me down his nose. "So tell me, Miss Norton, what is up in the attic that you find so very interesting, hmm?"

I just breathed. Don't say anything. Plead the Fifth… wait, that doesn't work in England. Does it?

"Gone silent, hmm?" he asked. "Very well, come with me." He took his keys out and opened the attic door. A firm grip on my forearm, he dragged me back up.

I blinked at the dust. Victor let go off me and paced around, looking for anything out of the ordinary… though most of the things in the attic weren't ordinary.

He stopped at the phonograph. We didn't break it apart! "What is this?" he asked. "This is an antique." He tapped it with a pen, I think. "Could be very valuable, have you been tampering with it?"

Thankfully, it had gathered dust since the last time we used it. "N-no, sir." I lied.

He moved to the box of papers that the house showed me. He picked up some files. "Have you been going through this?"

"No, sir." I said again. "It fell and I moved it out of the way."

He might have bought it. He tossed the files back in the box and walked to the panel. I froze when he touched the switch.

He doesn't have the locket, I assured myself, and he can't open it. "What is your secret…" he muttered, I think to the overall attic. He turned to me. "And what is your secret, hmm? Why were you up in the attic?"

"I… sometimes come here to think." I lied. "We do that in America." Lies, lies, lies!

"Well not anymore, it isn't!" he said to me. He mustn't know America then… "There's a padlock going on that door, you can forget about anymore me time in the attic." I nodded. He handed me a toothbrush. "I want to be able to see my face reflected in those toilet bowls, Miss Norton. You can clean them after class, now get off to school."

He didn't need to tell me twice. I scampered out of the attic, left the toothbrush by the toilet, and ran to the school building. I found the majority of Sibuna in the lounge.

"Victor caught me!" I spoke quickly.

"No way." Fabian said. I eyed Jerome, who was sitting a chair away. He eyed me right back. I motioned Sibuna to leave. They got up and we left.

"That's it! Whisper, whisper, whisper!" Jerome yelled after us.

"Did he get the puzzle pieces?" Patricia asked in the hall.

"No, he caught me leaving the attic." I said. Fabian sighed in relief. "But he's paranoid now. As usual, my cover story has major holes so he could just check that Americans rarely hang out in attics. And he's padlocking the door."

Patricia made a sound of annoyance. "How will we get the puzzle pieces back if he does that?" Fabian asked. I sighed with anxiety and we returned to the drama lounge.

Jerome pushed past us, "Figured out how to save the world yet?" he snarled.

"Yeah, standing up to cancer, bitch!" I yelled after him.

_~ Night ~_

I stared out the window at the night sky in. Fabian was with me, playing around on his guitar. It was nice to know he trusted me enough to play in front of me. Well, kind of play. All he ever did was scales.

"Why is it always 'two steps forward, three steps back', Fabian?" I recited Sarah. He stopped playing to sit down next to me and look outside.

"The sky looks nice tonight," He smiled at me. I stared at the stars.

"Yeah, so pretty…" I muttered. Fabian recited a bit of the riddle. "Yeah," I remarked. "Maybe if we say it loud enough we'll finally understand it."

"No," he said excitedly, like he figured something out. "Beyond the world. Stars. And how do people normally look at stars?"

"By looking up at night?" I teased. "Through…. Through a telescope!" Telescopes had glass lens!

"There's one in the living room." He said. "Let's go." I got up excitedly and we raced downstairs.

Fabian took out the telescope and placed it by the window. I peered through it, but all I saw was sky.

"Nyeh, what am I looking for?" I asked. "I can't see a thing."

"Beyond the world," Fabian said. "The moon? I don't know. Try focusing it on the moon." I turned the scope towards the light. The moon looked really pretty, but the clouds moved just in time to hide its brightness. Letters squiggled in and out of my vision.

"There's totally something written on the lens, but I can't make it out." I said. "Can you try?"

He took the telescope and focused it. "Unleash the power and light the way. Find the… demi-sphere hidden below." He recited. I pumped a fist in the air.

"Yes, we're back in business!" we said at the same time. I blushed as we laughed.

The grandfather clock chimed in the hallway. "It's ten o'clock!" Victor announced. He noticed us by the window and telescope. "You both know what that means." He walked into the room. "Doing a little stargazing, we were?" he asked.

"Er…. Yeah." I said quickly. "You know, as friends. Friends stargaze all the time, right?"

"Don't lie to me, Miss Norton, you have no talent for it." He said. Well that was rude. And he's believes all my lies so far, so I hardly doubt I don't have a talent. "Let's see what has caught your eye, shall we?" He peered into the telescope.

Oh dear, what if he finds the clue. Aw man, this is bad. Really, really bad.

"Victor, wait!" Fabian said quickly. "I can hear Alfie and Jerome having a water fight." Victor looked at him squarely, and then looked into the telescope. I shared a panicked look with Fabian.

After a terrifying moment, Victor looked back to us and straightened. "Only you, Rutter, only you would choose such a cloudy night to stargaze." Fabian and I pretended to be oblivious and played along. "Get to your rooms, both of you." He ordered. "You have five minutes precisely!" We fled the room.

I laughed when we got into the hall. "That was too close!" I whispered to him.

"Yeah, way too close." Fabian agreed.

"Goodnight." I laughed. I gave him a quick hug and scurried upstairs.

_~ Morning ~_

"The riddle said 'light the way, find the demi-sphere hidden below'." I told Sibuna during breakfast.

"What's a demi-sphere?" Alfie asked.

"Why should I know?" I replied. "Half a hemisphere maybe?"

"Hidden below…" Patricia repeated. "Does that mean hidden in the cellar?"

"We still need to collect a sample of the elixir as well, remember?" Fabian reminded us. "And we know where he keeps it now."

"We've got to go back down there." I declared.

"Why does she keep saying that?" Amber whispered loudly to Patricia. "Please don't make me go!" she begged.

"To keep risks at a minimum," Fabian suggested, "maybe we should just let one person go down there this time."

"Great plan, Fabes!" Amber cheered. "I'll stay here and hold the fort."

"We'll draw straws for it," Fabian corrected. "Yeah?"

"Or we could just do it that way…" Amber muttered.

_~ At school ~_

I took some white bendy straws and attacked them with scissors before class started. I mushed them around in my hand and then lined them up evenly, so then I didn't even know which was which.

Alfie walked in with Jerome. Jerome looked at me weirdly before whispering to Alfie. Alfie walked over to us casually and said, "Hey, are those the straws?"

"What were you saying to Jerome?" I asked cautiously. Oh dear, I was sounding as paranoid as Fabian said. He's allowed to have friends. But Jerome's look towards me…

"Oh, you know. The usual. Where to hang, what to scam, who to snarl at." He brushed off. "I'm fed up with him, to be honest."

"Let's go to the lounge." I said. "During break." They agreed.

_~ Break ~_

"Patricia's got the walkie-talkies," I announced, sitting on part of a chair while Fabian sat on the other.

"This," she said as she took them out, "will be better than the loud whispering we've been doing so far."

"Here's Amber," Fabian said, readying the straws. Amber walked up to us happily. "Guys, everyone take a straw." He held them out and I picked on with my eyes closed.

"This matchmaking business is actually becoming kind of fun." Amber stated. "You should let me pick your love life, Patricia."

"I'd rather chew on glass." Patricia rebuffed. Amber made a face, and then we all held out our straws. I got the longest one; Alfie got the shortest.

"Aw, poor Alfie." Amber cooed.

"OK, Alfie's up." I announced. "Hurray." I muttered.

_~ After school ~_

After dressing in jeans, a cute tee, and my llama hat, I met Patricia in her room. "Hey." I greeted. "You ready?"

"Yeah," she replied. She hopped over her bed and we walked down the hall. I stopped when we reached the small hallway to the attic. Both Victor and Trudy were there.

"Are you still going out tonight?" Trudy asked.

"Yes, and I shan't be back until very late." He replied. I pulled Patricia and we past by casually. "So you will be responsible for lock up and lights out."

Patricia and I flew downstairs and into the living room.

"Hey guys," Patricia announced. "So Victor's out until late, so tonight is definitely the night."

"The night for what?" Jerome asked. I jumped, why was he always here?

"We're eloping and running off to raise cattle on the countryside." I snapped sarcastically.

"The girls and I are planning to watch a DVD after lights out tonight," Fabian lied. "It's no big thing." I shrugged.

"Unless there is no popcorn. Then it's a big thing." I said seriously.

"OK," Jerome said suspiciously. "Hey, Alfie, why don't you and I have our own movie night tonight? Zombie fest."

"Yeah, sure thing, buddy." Alfie agreed. I rolled my eyes. Thanks, Jerome.

_~ Night ~_

I fell asleep holding the walkie-talkie.

"A-Dawg to Annzie." It squawked, making me jump awake. "Alfie to Mary Ann. Come in. Alfie to Mary Ann, are you reading me? Over."

"Mary to Lewis," I replied sleepily. "Annzie is stupid, but I'll give. Reading loud and clear. Over."

"Ready with you in five minutes." He said. "Over."

"Sure." I said. "I'm not saying 'over'… wait I just did. Whatever. Over." I got out of bed and shook Amber awake.

Amber moaned. "Do I have to?"

"Yes." I replied bluntly. "Come on." I grabbed a robe and snuck down the hall. I knocked twice on Patricia's door. She took a moment, but she got out. We reunited with Amber on the way towards the door and we snuck downstairs. I knocked twice on Fabian's door, which he answered to immediately.

We waited for a bit in the kitchen, when Alfie came in. He was holding a full-out commando outfit, wearing a camouflage shirt and headband. He wore cargo pants, some boots a dog-tag style necklace, and stripes of paint on his face.

"Alfie, what time do you call this?" Fabian whispered at him.

"And what have you come as?" Patricia remarked. Alfie grinned at us stupidly.

"Take no notice," Amber said, "I think you look very nice, Alfie."

"You know the plan, correct?" I said, getting straight to business.

"Get a sample of the elixir and looking for a demi-sphere." Alfie counted off. "Whatever a demi-sphere might be…"

"Walkie-talkie?" Patricia asked.

"In here." He said, showing us his school bag slung on his shoulder.

"Good luck, soldier." I said.

"Thanks." He replied. After a pause, he turned to the blonde. "Amber?"

"Yeah?"

"Could I have a good luck kiss?" he asked, scooting closer.

"Aw, of course you can!" she cooed. She planted a kiss on his cheek. Alfie looked like he was on cloud nine.

"Thanks," he sighed dreamily. "I can face anything now."

"Come on, you lovesick schoolboy." I took him by the arm and walked over to the oven. I opened it with the locket, and gestured to it. "Get."

He crawled in, and I shut it behind him. "Let's watch from upstairs." I said to the others. They nodded and we left.

We sat on the stairs. I leaned against the wall and stared at the chandelier.

"What was that?" Patricia asked suddenly. I blinked. Oops, must have dozed off…

"Sounds like a car." Fabian noted.

"Vicky!" I realized. Patricia nudged Amber awake. We turned to the stairs. I pulled out the walkie-talkie.

"Annzie to A-Dawg, Annzie to A-Dawg." I said into it. "Victor's back! I repeat, the Black Bird is back!" I waited for a reply, and worried after ten seconds. "Alfie? Come in!"

After a moment, he finally replied. "OK, got that." I sighed a breath of relief.

"He's got it." I told the others. "Yet another close one." Victor came in through the front door. He picked out a key from his stash and opened the cellar door.

"A-Dawg, you need to get out." I spoke into the talkie. "Vicky's coming down. Over." Victor disappeared from sight. No response. "Alfie, come in. Please, Alfie, come in."

"OK, thanks, M-Dawg." He finally said.

I sighed again. "You need to work on your replies." I scolded. "And it's Annzie." Then I realized, "Fabian, you need to get back to your room! Go while Victor's down!" He got up.

"OK, 'night." He said, and bounded down the stairs.

"Alfie, are you clear?" I asked into the walkie-talkie. "Where are you?"

After a scary second, "Yeah. Safe. In my room."

"He's good." I told the others.

"Let's get back to our rooms." Patricia suggested. I nodded in agreement.

"Heading back to bed. See you in the morning." I told Alfie. "Annzie, out." I got up with the girls and we returned to our rooms.

"Don't you think that was brave?" Amber asked as she got under the covers.

"Yeah." I answered sleepily. "Heroic. I'll tell him in the morning."


	23. Flares

_Hey guys! Ah, my birthday's tomorrow! I'm growing so old... But that won't stop me from writing! Anyways, here's the new installment, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE HOUSE OF FLARES**

"Do my eyes still look like an albino rabbit?" Amber asked me during breakfast. "These last nights are really playing at it with my sleeping ratios."

"Have you seen Alfie yet?" I asked Sibuna. "I hope he's OK…"

"Here he is." Fabian announced as Alfie walked in.

"Alfie, how are you?" Amber asked. He shrugged.

"How did you do last night?" Patricia asked.

"Did you find anything?" Fabian asked. Alfie glanced back into the hall, and then pulled the bottle out from his coat.

"Aw, well done!" Patricia said.

"Great job, A-Dawg." I congratulated.

"What about the other thing?" Fabian asked.

"The demi-sphere? I looked everywhere but I couldn't find anything that looked right." He went and got some food for breakfast.

"Maybe it's not down in the cellar after all." Patricia said.

"Unleash the power and light the way, find the demi-sphere hidden below…" I recited.

"You OK, boo?" Amber asked Alfie. He was weirdly quiet.

He spun around. "Why did you all disappear and leave me last night?"

"What?" Amber asked.

"We didn't." Patricia stated.

"We only went back when we knew you were safe." I explained.

"How did you know I was safely back in my room?"

"Because you told us." Amber said.

"I did?" he asked in confusion.

"Over the walkie-talkie." Patricia added. "A-Dawg?"

"Walkie-talkie?" Patricia nodded. "No!" I looked at him with puzzlement. He thought. "Wait a minute…" Realizing something, he ran out of the room.

"What was that all about?" Fabian questioned. I shrugged.

_~ School ~_

"I think it's time to initiate Alfie into Sibuna, officially." Amber declared at my locker.

"Yeah, me too." I replied.

"Come on Mary Ann, he did– Wait, you think?"

I nodded. "He's good. He got the elixir, and didn't get caught." Amber beamed at me.

"Hey Alfie!" she called out as he was walking in. "We've been talking and we've got some great news. How would you like to become an official member of the Sibuna club?"

"Yeah, you did greatness, Lewis." I added.

"Yeah, great." Alfie smiled.

"Is that it?" Amber asked. "I thought you'd jump up and down or something."

"It is great," he assured us. "Yeah, look, I'm pleased." He smiled again.

"Good." Amber said. "Initiation ceremony, today after school, by the burnt out tree in the woods."

"See you then." He said.

I smiled and we walked off. I then stopped and called out, "Don't worry! It won't be like my initiation ceremony!"

_~ After school, Initiation Ceremony ~_

Sibuna met for Alfie's initiation. We stood around a fire in a barrel. Alfie held his jester hat.

"Now throw the hat into the fire." Amber instructed. "And repeat after me."

"Do I have to?" Alfie pleaded. "This is my favorite jester's hat. Without it I am nothing!"

"It has to be something special." Amber said, unshaken. Sadly, Alfie threw the hat into the fire. Amber raised her hand.

"I, Alfred Marmaduke Lewis," she said.

"I, Alfie Lewis," he corrected. I snickered.

"Promise to protect the treasure of Anubis house and all its secrets." She finished. Alfie repeated.

"You're now officially a member of the club!" Amber cheered. "Sibuna." She did the gesture. The rest of us copied; including Alfie whom did it correctly for the first time.

"Unleash the power," Amber whispered.

"What'd you say?" I asked her.

"Nothing," she stared at me.

"Light the way, light the way," the voice whispered, sounding differently from Amber. I frowned and looked at the fire. It seemed to glow… making a mini tornado of light spiral from the barrel. I blinked my eyes hard, and it was gone.

"Light the way…" I repeated.

"What are_ you_ talking about?" Amber asked me.

"Are you OK?" Fabian asked me. I looked up to find all of them staring at me.

"I… I don't know…." I confessed. I furrowed my eyes and stared back at the fire.

_~ Back at the house ~_

I entered the house, but stopped moving when my eyes met the chandelier. There was something about it… So interesting. The way it sparkled, millions of glass tears.

Someone, Mick I think, pushed past me, but I didn't notice. I didn't notice the pain growing in my neck either. The chandelier was so… hypnotizing.

"Unleash the power," the voice whispered. A tornado of light wrapped its way around the chandelier. "And light the way, and light the way." The tornado faded.

"What is so fascinating up there, Miss Norton?" Victor's voice filled my ears. I peeled my eyes away with difficulty.

"I have no idea." I said truthfully. I brushed past him to go upstairs.

I closed the door and sat on my bed. Pulling out the locket, I opened it and stared at the portrait of Sarah. Or, I thought it was Sarah. She and Fabian thought it was me.

I'm so close. So close, yet I don't know to what.

"I almost knocked Victor flying." Amber laughed as she walked in.

"Hmm?" I looked at her.

"Oh, he was changing the light bulbs in that old chandelier." I stood up.

"NO!" I exclaimed.

"What?"

"The next clue is hidden in there. I've got to stop him!" I ran out the door and on to the staircase. Sure enough, Victor was searching the chandelier.

_He's tainting it!_ My mind screamed.

"What'll we do?" I asked Amber, who followed me.

"OK, make sure you catch me." Amber told me. Before I could question her, she walked up to the railing. "Victor!" she called. "I don't feel very…" She collapsed, and I saw what she meant. I grabbed her by the waist and gently brought her to the ground.

"Ah!" I said in shock at first. "Victor, help!"

"Has she been on another one of her fat diets?" he asked, getting down from the ladder.

"Ooh," Amber acted. "I feel terrible! Oh my heart's racing and I think I have a fever!" I pretended to try and get her to stand. "But, I'm really cold and faint and oh my ankle hurts a lot!"

"You!" he said to me. "Go and get Trudy now!" I switched spots with Victor and rushed downstairs.

"And find the demi-sphere!" the familiar voice whispered.

"Got it," I snapped. I climbed the ladder.

"Find the demi-sphere hidden below!" it whispered. I noticed a knob under the chandelier. Like a handle…

I pulled it hard. It came off easily, but a paper fell with the piece I pulled and I saw a weird thing of metal in a hollow part of the chandelier. The demi-sphere! I pulled it out and shoved the lid back on. I jumped off the ladder and snatched the paper from the floor.

Just when I shoved both in my bag, Victor came back to the railing. "Miss Norton!"

"I'm getting her!" I called back, racing into the kitchen. Thankfully, she was there.

"Trudy! Amber fainted! Help!" I said quickly.

"Oh my goodness, poor Amber!" Trudy raced off. When she left, I took out the riddle and opened it.

'Inside the core of my enemy's pride is where the final relic hides' it read. OMIGOSH. Final relic?

"What are you doing, Miss Norton?" Victor said from behind me. I spun around, hiding the riddle.

"I just got Tru–" It wasn't Victor. It was Fabian. And he was laughing at me. "Fabian!" I punched him in the shoulder. "Don't do that!"

"What gives?" he asked. I waved the riddle in his face. He plucked it from my fingers and read it. "Whoa. Where did you find this?"

"The demi-sphere," I explained. "Aka, the bottom of the chandelier." I smiled at his puzzlement and read the clue aloud.

"The final relic." Fabian repeated.

"Yeah," I smiled, but then frowned. "But… whose enemy?"

"So," Alfie walked into the kitchen and I took the riddle from Fabian. "S'up, guys? Sleuthing or flirting?"

"Oh ha ha ha," Fabian said sarcastically as I blushed. "No, Mary Ann has found another puzzle piece."

"Great," he said, "um, just out of curiosity, you know the elixir I brought back from the cellar… what did we do with it exactly?"

"It's under my mattress," Fabian replied suspiciously. Liar, it was under MY mattress. "Why?"

"No, no that's all." Alfie shrugged. "Just wanted to know it was somewhere safe." He smiled and fled the room.

"Strange…" I murmured.

"Talking of strange, how did you know where the demi-sphere was?" Fabian asked me.

I squirmed. How to explain… "Er, well, since Sarah died, my intuition's been getting stronger." Intuition? What the fuck?

"In what way?" he asked, sounding confused.

"I'm going to sound like a nutcase," I declared, "but I've been hearing… voices…" I waited for his reaction. He stared at me with a strange look on his face, distant almost.

"You're thinking I'm crazy, aren't you." I said, heart pounding in my throat. Why I care so much for his approval was beyond me.

"No," he told me. "I'm wondering… if they've gotten it wrong about Joy being the Chosen One."

Wait… was he implying that I was the Chosen One? No. No way. I was just a girl from California who went to boarding school in England.

I breathed in short gasps. "Fabian?" I said. "Sh-Shut up. Don't say that; don't _mention_ it!" I ran out of the room.

"Mary Ann?" he called after me. I ran out the front door and sat on the steps.

Breathe in, breathe out. Simple movements.

Why would he say that? Why would he even think that? I was some Chosen One? And because I heard voices? No, I was crazy or something. Maybe schizophrenic. Paranoia was a symptom. I was definitely paranoid.

"Mary Ann, it's time for supper." Mara's voice said. I spun to see her in the doorway, smiling at me. I nodded and followed her inside.

"I'm really sorry, Mary Ann," Fabian whispered as soon as I walked in. "I wasn't thinking straight –"

"It's OK." I said instantly. "It was just a thought… right?" He nodded.

"You're obviously feeling a lot better, Amber. After your fainting episode." Trudy noticed as she brought orange juice to the table. I picked at some salad.

"Yes, I'm better, thanks Trudy." Amber replied. "It was terrible and terrifying." I grinned at her overdramatic reaction. "Also frightening."

"Thanks Trudy." Jerome handed an empty plate and cup to her.

"Where are you going?" Alfie asked.

"Places to go, people to see." He replied nonchalantly.

"So Mick," Patricia changed the subject, "Are you joining the school's pom-pom squad?"

"No…" he replied slowly. I noticed his t-shirt said 'I'M SORRY MARA' on it. Weird… "Why would you think that?"

"Wasn't that your cheerleading audition piece earlier?" Patricia stood up with some napkins and shook them in the air in a weird formation. Like… a cheerleader. I giggled. Mick got upset and left the table. Alfie then left the table. Mara and Amber battled it out to swap kitchen duty. Amber said it was so Mara could talk to Mick. So Mara then left to do the dishes.

I took the riddle from my bag and gestured for the remainder of Sibuna to follow me. We all got up and I led them upstairs. The girls sat on the floor and I sat on my bed. I handed the riddle to Patricia as Fabian sat down.

"Inside the core of my enemy's pride," she read out loud. "Is where the final relic hides."

"Final relic," I repeated excitedly. "Like the final episode of an anime. We're so close!"

"Core…" Amber said thoughtfully. "Core…" I laughed with Patricia. She sounded like a bird!

"You sound just like Cor-biere, Amber." Patricia noted, playing with the name. "Core, core!"

Corbiere never left Victor's office, and if it did it was always, always with Victor. Creepy stuffed bird, it was practically Victor's son. He even talked to it, with no loss of pride.

Pride… pride… "Omigod!" I exclaimed. "Patricia, Amber, genius!"

"I know!" Amber agreed. "…Why?"

"Corbiere is the pride and joy," Fabian explained smugly. So he figured it out as well.

"Oh, nice deduction!" Amber complimented. "You guys are so good together! Like Scooby and Shaggy."

"I call being Scooby!" I yelled, throwing a hand up in the air. "Totally calling dibs!" We all started laughing.

"So the final clue is inside Corbiere?" Patricia asked when we finished.

"Could be," I said. "We should get Alfie. Anyone dare accompany me?" I asked, standing up.

"I'll go." Fabian offered. Amber shot me a weird look, and she was grinning weirdly as well. I raised an eyebrow at her and left with Fabian.

We had the best timing in the world.

I opened the door to the staircase just as Victor was leaving. He regarded us suspiciously and then trudged down the stairs. I kept looking at him until he went out the front door.

"Are we thinking the same thing?" I leaned into Fabian. He grinned at me and we heard the outside door slam.

"Let's go!" he whispered. We sprinted into the office. I walked up to the stuffed raven.

"Hey Corby." I greeted awkwardly. "Just going to check to make sure you have a clue or something." I lifted the base of his statue and peered under. Nothing. I glanced under his belly.

"Anything?" Fabian asked.

"None." I shook my head. I looked around. Under the tail, under the wings. Nothing.

"Try twisting its head?" Fabian suggested.

"Sorry?"

"I saw this film once," he explained exasperatedly.

"I am so not going to a movie with you." I remarked. He rolled his eyes. "But it is the only place I haven't checked on this dumb thing. Wring the birdie's neck, why not?" I placed a hand on its neck and twisted the head part counterclockwise.

Of course, Fate hated me. The head came clean off. I yelped, but didn't drop the head. Fabian shuddered.

But thankfully, the final relic was indeed inside the neck of the blasted thing. Fabian plucked it out. It looked almost like a bottle cap, with the word END printed on the top.

"End?" I read.

"Maybe it means we've come to the end of the search?" Fabian guessed.

"Then where's the Cup?" I questioned. Just then, the front door slammed. Fabian peered over.

"Victor's back, we need to hurry!" he whispered.

"But I still have the head!"


	24. Rodents

_Whoa, cliff-hanger! Sorry to leave you off like that, but you know how House of Anubis is. And sorry that it's late. I was real busy yesterday. Enjoy this chapter, and see you next Friday!_

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR HOUSE OF RODENTS**

I shoved the head onto the rest of the body in full panic. I twisted it clockwise in hopes it would stay on and then we rushed out of the office. I sent a silent apology to Corbiere for talking his head off.

We went into the hall just as Victor was stepping out again. Fabian shut the door to the office as quietly as possible. We snuck back to the door to the girls' dorms and sprinted to my room.

_~ Morning ~_

I explained what happened to the girls while we brushed our teeth.

"But how can it mean the end of the search?" Patricia asked after I finished. "We haven't found the Cup of Ankh yet."

"It could mean the end of finding clues." I said with a toothbrush in my mouth.

"Nope, didn't get a word of that." Amber told me. I spit my toothpaste into the sink.

"It could mean the end of finding clues." I repeated.

"But if there are no more clues, what do we do next?" Patricia questioned.

"Look at the pieces again." I guessed. "The answer must be there."

"I hope it doesn't mean any more creepy stuffed animals." Amber complained. I rolled my eyes playfully and Patricia and I left so she could take a shower.

I didn't make it farther than three steps when Amber screamed.

We raced back to find her in the shower area, robe still on, pointing at the towels below. "A mouse, gross, gross, gross!" she screamed. A small white mouse scurried across the blue towel. I sighed when Patricia made a noise of disgust. "Please find it and flush it!"

"Don't do that!" I protested. I knelt on the tile floor and scooped it up. It was so cute and fuzzy in my hands.

Amber screamed again. Trudy screamed from downstairs. There was more than one mouse? I frowned at the little guy, pink eyes to caramel.

"Did you and your little buddies think it was OK to storm a school?" I asked it. "Sorry, but more than half the people here are terrified by you."

_~ At school ~_

"Before we start, as you know we have a problem with mice in Anubis house." Mrs. Andrew said to the class the same morning. I rolled my eyes at Fabian. "So we will be providing temporary accommodation for Anubis residents here in the main school building."

Fabian raised his hand. Mrs. A called on him. "Ms. Andrews, so you do not think it's a little bit strange that all the mice are white? How did we get a sudden infestation of pet mice?"

"Well, I'll be asking pet control about that." Mrs. Andrews said stiffly.

"And," I added. "Can we go back quickly to get our stuff after class?"

"No," she said. "I'm sorry. I want you all to remain here. Trudy will bring you overnight things and as a special treat she's going to provide a take-away meal for you all this evening."

Only Mick seemed happy. He cheered. I frowned and looked at Fabian.

"Yes, that's right," our teacher said. "Treat it all to a big adventure."

"Already got one." I mumbled to Fabian.

"Now, you all know the rules about food in dormitories," she continued, "so we will be searching your room for snacks and confiscating any unauthorized items."

I looked frightened at Fabian. "They'll find everything!" I whispered to him. "And my secret stash of candy!" He rubbed his eyes in frustration, but laughed a bit at the last sentence.

_~ After classes ~_

I dressed in the girls' bathroom. I dressed in jeans, a dark purple sweater, and my llama hat. Fabian and I helped set up temporary "base" as we all called it in the drama studio. We set up curtains to make doors for privacy. Trudy asked me to take everyone's order of food.

"We've got to get back to Anubis," I whispered to Fabian when we were finally alone. "Vicky is going to tear the entire place to pieces!"

"Mary Ann, it'll be OK." He assured me. "Look, most of the puzzle pieces and the recordings are safe behind the panel. And you've got the other two."

"You really think the panel will stop him?" I exclaimed. "He knows the pieces are somewhere in that house, and he won't stop."

He started to say something when Trudy squeezed between us. "Isn't this exciting?" she asked. We smiled falsely at her. "It's just like a camping trip!" She handed Fabian a pillow.

"Boys in the classroom!" Trudy called out. "And ladies over here!" She walked over to me. "Mary Ann, have you get everyone's food orders?"

"Yeah," I replied, handing her the list. "But Alfie and Mick are planning to stay here for a year."

"Great." She smiled. "I'll ring them up in a minute."

There was a THUNK and Alfie started yelling. When he came into sight, I started cracking up. He was caught in one of those foldable beds! However possible…

While everyone was busy helping Alfie, Fabian and I made our escape.

"We should hurry." I said as we swished through the curtains.

"What's the plan?" Fabian asked.

"Uh, hadn't thought of one, but we'll improvise." I said. We past by Mr. Sweet's office…

…. Just as he opened the door.

He yelled something at us in Latin. That was really getting annoying. We froze. "Less haste, please!" he translated. We turned to him. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

After an awkward moment, Fabian said, "We were just going out to place the takeout order."

"I've got the worst connect here." I added.

"In that case," Sweetie said, "please feel free to use the telephone in my office." He beaconed us. I groaned silently as we entered.

Thankfully, I had the list memorized in my head. For some reason, Fabian knew the number. I called, gave them the order, and hung up. I hope he didn't mind me taking…

"Now please return to the temporary base," Sweet instructed. "And stay there." I nodded and Fabian and I entered the hall. I closed the door behind me.

"Improvisation is key." I whispered to Fabian. "And the key is what I have! I've got a plan." I showed him the key I took from Sweetie's desk. He grinned and we went back to base. I told him the plan when we got Patricia. Patricia approved.

We walked over to Trudy. "Trudy," I asked sweetly. "We were just thinking about it. But we haven't gotten any food for Sweet! Plus he's working late…"

"Aw, aren't you thoughtful!" Trudy cooed. "Well, why don't you pop down to his office and see what he wants."

I looked to Fabian, and then to Patricia. "B-but you see," I went on, "he was kind of mad when he saw we had left the base… Wasn't he, Fabes?"

"Yeah," Fabian caught on. "Yeah, he was so angry."

"Mr. Sweet? Angry?" she said in confusion. "I can't picture that. He'd have to change his name." We shared a simple laugh. "Well, you are supposed to be here, I suppose… You know what, I'll go." Yes, she was falling into plan.

"Thanks Trudy." I said light-heartedly. She picked up two menus and left.

"Onward!" I cheered quietly when she was out of earshot. I snatched my bag and followed them out. I tiptoed to the door to the office and closed it slowly. Taking out the key, I locked it.

"I hope we aren't late." I whispered to Fabian. We ran off, Patricia returning to base.

It was a silent run, except for my nervous babbling (Are we too late? What if we're too late? Maybe he'll kill us when he finds out. Do you think he'll tell the teachers? Could I get expelled for this? Well, yeah I'm so far into this mystery…). We stopped by the small walls that were like a fence marking the start of the property line. We hid below it, out of sight, and waited.

"OK, if everything goes as planned," Fabian reminded me. "As soon as Trudy and Mr. Sweet realize they're locked in, they'll call Victor. He'll head over to let them out and that's when we make our move."

"Oh man, what if they don't call him?" I babbled.

"Then I guess I'll have to do it instead." He coughed. "Hello Victor, Sweetie here." He spoke in a weird voice, almost copying Mr. Sweet. Despite all seriousness, I cracked up.

"That would never work," I told him. "Stick to Victor impressions." He rolled his eyes playfully and I glanced back at the house.

We waited… and we waited… and we waited.

"Why are they taking so long?" I questioned impatiently.

"Just wait," Fabian said. "He'll come. Victor's the only person with a master key. He's made sure of that."

"Silly Victor." I rolled my eyes in fake scoff. He laughed. My anxiety attacked me again. "Oh man, he'll find the pieces. And when he finds them… we're…" I shuddered. "Probably worse than dead. What if he stuffs me, like Corbiere?"

"Oh, gross." He said. "I hardly doubt Victor's that much of a madman." My stomach pulled.

"Something is definitely wrong." I said, breathing in. "My gut is telling me something is very wrong."

Just then, Victor walked out of the house.

"It's fine, he's leaving." Fabian whispered at me.

"About time." I muttered.

Fabian watched as Victor disappeared from sight. "Alright, we've got ten minutes max. Let's go." We sprinted into the house.

When I walked in…. oh man. The place was destroyed! Things were knocked over and spilled. "What has he been doing?" I questioned. I ran upstairs to my room.

The door couldn't even open all the way. My mattress was thrown over. My box of preciousness was spilled everywhere. My hamper was strewn across the room. "Worse than downstairs!" I yelled.

"It's a mess!" Fabian commented. I searched the remainder of my bed.

My heart felt like lead. "No, no, no! The elixir's gone!"

"No," he said.

"Photos, he took the photos!" I picked up the box containing them. My mouth felt numb…

"All our proof…" Fabian murmured.

"Quick, the attic!" I said, shooting up. "The rest of the stuff is in the attic!" We ran across the hall. Victor didn't even lock the door. I bolted up the steps, skipping two or three at a time.

I gasped when I saw the attic. Rage coursed through me, worse than when I saw my room trashed. I tore to the panel…

Or what was left of it. He broke the frigging wall down! Thankfully, everything was still there. I picked up as many boxed physically possible and carried them back.

"Looks like that phone call came just in the nick of time." Fabian said, taking some boxes from me.

"He hurt the wall." I growled. "He hurt the house!"

"OK, we need to go." Fabian told me. "Or they'll realize we're missing." I handed him the next box and we rushed down to the second floor.

"I'll hide these in my room." I said. "He won't search them again. Hide some in yours as well." He nodded and we split.

Taking careful precautions, I shoved the boxes high my shelf. I met Fabian down at the front door.

"We have got to go. NOW." He said. I nodded this time. We ran like hell.

"Run faster!" he yelled at me.

"I'm right behind you!" I snapped. True, I was only one pace behind. We stopped abruptly when we entered the school doors. I stood there, trying to catch my breath. The metallic taste of my blood danced on my taste buds.

"'Ey you kids!" a male voice called. His accent was thick. We turned around to see a guy with lots of boxes walking towards us. "Are 'ou sta'ing at this here bui'ing?" We nodded. "Well, 'ere are your deliveries." He shoved the pile of boxes into Fabian, who stumbled but got them all.

Thankfully, I had a good amount of money in my bag, and I paid the guy. I gave him an extra tip for helping us with an alibi, even though he didn't know it.

"We. Are. So. Lucky!" I said as I took some of the food boxes. "We've got an 'alibi' now!" We laughed as we walked down the halls. We got to Sweetie's office, door ajar, when Victor came barreling in. He was seething. Mr. Sweet followed closely behind.

"Where have you two been?" the latter asked when he saw us. "You were under strict orders to stay in the temporary base!"

"Delivery guy called." I lied. I showed them the pizza boxes in my hand. "Delivery."

"Yeah, we heard he was by the main door so we went to collect." Fabian added. I smiled innocently.

Victor was glaring at us headstrong. I thought he was going to yell at us when he turned to Sweetie. "I'm going back to the house." He said coolly. He walked past us.

"Tell those pesky pet control people not to harm the mice!" I yelled after him. "Anubis house is awesome, even animals like it!" I scowled.

Sweetie asked if we had the key to his office. "No." we said at the same time, same thoughtful tone. He gave us a weird look, but we just walked past him to the base.

"How lucky was that? We bumped into the delivery guy!" Fabian laughed to Patricia, who was standing at the curtain. I grinned.

"Aw, yes, thank you!" Jerome cried when he saw us enter.

"Well, this Meat Lover's pizza is not going to eat itself." Alfie said. For some reason he had facial gunk on his face. So did Mara, Amber, and Trudy…

"That would be creepy." I laughed. Trudy took the boxes. I took the Chinese takeout from Fabian. Jerome took that from me.

"Mission accomplished." Fabian said to Patricia.

"But Vicky has some stuff." I informed her.

"Not the puzzle pieces." Patricia said worriedly.

"Nuh-uh." I shook my head. "Those are on my highest shelf. The cylinders are under Fabian's bed. Vicky already searched the rooms, so he won't do that again."

"Mary Ann," Fabian said seriously. I turned to him. "I didn't put the cylinders under my bed."

"What?"

"No, the box under my bed is Sarah's box." Oh, thank God Victor didn't find that one. "I thought you had the cylinders in your bag."

"No." I said. I ran a hand through my hair. "Crap."

"I think they're still behind the panel." Fabian said. I shared a look with Patricia and groaned.

"We can't get them now." I said. "Crap, crap, crap."

"MARY!" Amber squealed suddenly. I turned to her. "Can I give you a facial?"

"No," I said instantly. "Oh no, you stay away from me with that stuff." I hid behind Patricia from the imminent danger.

"Oh ple-e-e-e-e-a-a-a-se?" she begged. She moved towards me, but I used Patricia as a shield.

"Hey!" Patricia complained. Suddenly, the guys were laughing even louder. I backed into something soft, a person. They wrapped an arm around my waist to keep me from escaping. Something slimy smeared across my cheek and I shrieked. A familiar chuckle erupted from behind.

"FABIAN!" I yelled as I squirmed. He was a lot stronger than you would think. Amber started to aw and I blushed.

"Let me go." I whined. Fabian held me with both arms. Amber was in front of me now, applying more of the green whatever to my face. I made faces and continued to squirm. No one made any moves to help.

"This better make my skin feel soft," I threatened. "Or I'll hate you forever. Aka until tomorrow." Fabian laughed and – it might have just been me – but I think he pulled me closer to him. It felt nice to have his arms around me… I blushed deeper. Stop those crazy thoughts, Norton!

I tested my turning limits. I could twist a quarter way. A plan concocted in my brain. I waited a moment…

I turned as far as possible and kissed him on the cheek. It shocked him enough that his arms slackened and I broke free. Screaming, I ran into Mick's lap and curled into a ball, wiping the gunk off my face. I sent Mara a teasing smile to let her know that it was only a joke to be sitting on Mick.

Patricia, Lewis and Clark were laughing their butts off. Amber was wooing. Fabian was still half-frozen in shock, his cheeks flushed. Mick writhed uncomfortably under me, so I got up and walked up to an empty chair. I crossed my legs and smirked.

The rest of night was overall pretty fun. We played games and ended the night watching a movie on a portable TV. I sat between Amber and Fabian in my flannel PJ pants, tank top, and llama hat.

I totally forgot about how worried I was earlier. Eventually, the exhaustion finally got to me and my eyelids drooped.

"G'night, Fabian." I whispered, leaning on his shoulder. My eyes shut and everything went quiet.

_~ Next day ~_

We returned to Anubis house the next morning. It wasn't hard to pretend to be shocked at the mess Victor left. He didn't even bother to pick up. I joined the other girls of the house as we looked at Patricia and Mara's room. It was totally trashed!

"Look at it!" Mara exclaimed. "Did they send an exterminator or a pack of elephants to get rid of the mice?" Patricia picked a bracelet up from the rubble.

"Aw, no!" she said. The clasp on her bracelet was broken. Unwearable. "Look at this."

"This almost amounts to criminal damage." Mara said. "Well, as your school representative, I'm not having it! I'm going to have a word with Sweetie!"

"Go Mara," Amber said as Mara walked out of the door. "And can you tell him to get cleaners? I can't have my manicure dealing with this."

"I feel really mean we can't tell her the real reason this place has been trashed." Patricia said.

"The less her knowledge is of this, the better." I informed her. "We can't endanger anyone else. And right now, we are in danger."

"We are?" Amber asked.

"Think! They totally know that we know now." I said.

"Ah," she said, "but we know that they definitely know we know. So they definitely know that we have something on them, right?"

"What?" Patricia said in confusion.

"I don't know." Amber just replied.

"We've got nothing on them, Ambs," I told her. "That's what I'm saying. Victor took our proof."

"We've still got the pieces." Patricia pointed out.

"Yeah, but we don't have anywhere to hide them." I countered. "Sibuna meeting, during lunch time, yeah?" They nodded.

_~ Lunch, meeting ~_

We sat in the familiar circle. My jacket protected the pieces from the ground.

"So," I started. "There are seven pieces. I think we should divide them amongst ourselves for safe keeping."

"Good idea." Patricia nodded.

"Fabian, take those two." I instructed, pointing to the END cap and the weird demi-sphere thing."

"I'll take this one since it's the prettiest." Amber said, taking the tethering ring.

"Sure. Patricia?" She took the jeweled case.

"I'll this one if you like," Alfie said, taking the vase. "Bit of an awkward shape, like me."

"Cool." I said, picking up the pieces I had to steal from the safe. "I'll take these ones." I picked them up, as well as my jacket. "We have to swear to carry these with us everywhere. Guard them with our lives." I placed my right hand over my right eye. "Sibuna Swear?"

They did the gesture.


	25. Treasons

_Ugh, sorry I missed the date again! I swear, I have an excuse, I've been busy. So... This is the second to last chapter! Thank you so much for sticking by me for so long! It really means a lot! Enjoy, for there is lots of romantic tension and Mabiann!_

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE HOUSE OF TREASONS**

"Amber texted me." I told Patricia. I sat on her bed while she was sorting through some of her school papers. "No idea why, I mean she's right downstairs." We both laughed. "And… there's going to be an end-of-term prom!"

"Ugh, seriously?" Patricia groaned.

"What, you don't like prom?" I asked. She shook her head. "I think they're fun. Then again, I've never actually been to prom…"

"What? You haven't?" It was her turn to look at me.

I blushed. "Is that weird? I mean, no one ever asked me. No one ever told me about them until they were over. I wasn't exactly 'Miss Popularity'."

"Makes sense." She said. "If you don't have a date, you usually just stand there looking like a fool. Or dance like an idiot." We both laughed. "Let's head downstairs before anyone misses us." I nodded and we headed out.

When I got to the staircase, I saw Victor counting the steps. He stopped at eight. "It's all beginning to make sense now…" he muttered.

'What the…' I mouthed to Patricia. She shrugged. We walked down the steps, making our presence known.

Victor turned to us and gave us a weird look. Was he still not used to my llama hat? Or was it the neon purple t-shirt I was wearing? Maybe the deep blue jeans?

"Under the eight stair, hmm?" he said to us. He had a strange look in his eyes. Raving, or delirious, it seemed. It was more noticeable as we got closer. "But what was under the eighth stair? A clue, the cylinders, what?" I winced at the loudness of his voice. He blocked our path. "I'm asking you something here, answer me." We remained silent.

After a terrifying moment, he moved. "No matter." He said, shooing us down. I quickly descended, wanting to get away from him. He knew. He knew something. "No matter, I shall find out soon enough."

What did that mean?

"Victor's losing it." Patricia murmured to me as we started for the living room.

"Yeah, he looked delirious! Did you see the look in his eyes? I mean, –" I stopped, realizing Mick and Mara in the room. They were sitting on the back of the couch. Amber was sitting in a chair. Fabian was sitting at the table. "Hey," I regarded. "Like he was going to kill us all, y'know? Like Darth Vader or something. All, force crushing with the hand." I babbled clenching my fist in front of me dramatically, taking any meaning out of my words.

"So," Mick said expressively. He got up, eyes on Fabian. He leaned on a chair at the table. "Haven't you got _something_ to ask a _certain_ someone?" he said teasingly. I eyed them suspiciously.

"So I heard we're having prom." I talked to Amber. She shushed me, eyes fixed on the two boys. I raised an eyebrow at her. Weird… she'd be jumping right now.

"Nope," Fabian said quickly.

"About the _dance_?" Mick pressured.

"So, dance?" I asked, trying to get someone to talk to me.

"Mara and I are organizing an end-of-term prom!" Amber informed me.

"Ah!" I screamed, clutching my head. "I've American-ized you! With proms! Next thing I know you'll be reciting the Pledge of Allegiance!" I waited a moment, and then laughed afterwards to show I was kidding.

Amber looked at me with pure confusion. "The what?"

I waved a hand. "Ignore me!"

"Anyway," she exclaimed excitedly. "_Fabian_ was wondering…"

"Who," Fabian said in a panicked tone, "you'll be going with, Patricia." I stifled a laugh. Aw, Fabian liked Patricia? Not a likely pair considering the personality clash, but opposites attract right? I tried to be Amber for a second. What would their relationship name be? Fabicia?

But something was crushing my chest (metaphorically). It hurt a bit to think he wouldn't ask _me_ who _I_ was going with. But, then again, we were only friends. It wasn't like he liked me like that…

"Why?" Patricia asked. Fabian glanced at Mick. Awkward moment alert.

"No reason," Fabian brushed off, "Just curious."

"Uh, I don't know. No one probably." Patricia answered the question. So that's why she didn't like proms. No one asks her.

"Great. OK." Fabian said. There was that pain again. _Snap out of it, Mary Ann. _"Good." Uh oh, that was not the right thing to say.

"Good?" Patricia wheeled on him.

"No," Fabian said quickly, correcting himself. "No, not good." Everyone stared at him. "Absolutely, definitely not good. I mean… it could be good because… someone will ask you eventually…" We all stared at him again. "I'm going to go and… going to go and brush me teeth before supper…" He made his hasty exit then.

"Awkward." I sang when he was gone. "Looks like someone likes you, Trixie." I mentally kicked myself for sounding like I was sad. Hide emotions…

"No way!" she retorted.

"Did you see him stammering?" I raised an eyebrow at her. "He likes you, it's a sign!"

"Oh I'm not sure about that." Amber argued.

"Whatever…" I shrugged. You're a fool, Norton. No one likes you that way. No one ever will like the murdering bitch.

My iPod rang out, signaling that I got a new email. I unlocked it, and scowled when I saw whom it was from. Those jerks at my old school finally replied to my email that I sent a couple months ago. Fate really hated me, didn't it.

'_Fuck you_,' it read. '_You're a worthless freak. You won't get anywhere in life. Why don't you just die and save everyone else the misery? We'll even celebrate, and then quickly forget that you even existed.'_

My face flushed with anger. I didn't respond, but I deleted the message. They still had the nerve to tell me to die? And I'm a worthless freak, oh really? Who's in England now, you bastard? Who's living the dream via scholarship, which you only got by being smart?

"Mary, are you OK?" Amber asked. I blinked hard.

"Yeah," I smiled dishonestly. "Just those stupid ads, you know?"

"Oh, I hate those!" Amber rambled. "They aren't even interesting!" She started to go on, but I zoned out.

"Supper!" Trudy called. We all went to the table.

"I'll get Fabian." Mick said, leaving.

Amber was still going on about ads. "Amber!" I yelled to interrupt. She stopped. "The dance? What are you going to wear?"

"I haven't decided yet, but we're going shopping tomorrow, since it's Saturday." Amber said matter-of-factly.

"We?"

"You, me, Mara, and Patricia. Duh." She said.

"I never agreed to this." Patricia and I chorused.

"You're still going." Amber said. She got up to get the salad bowl. Mick returned, looking a little upset.

"Fabian's not eating?" I frowned when I saw that it was only him.

"He's not hungry." Mick said. "And I broke his mug."

"Better luck than us." I said. "Going dress shopping tomorrow."

He winced. "Ouch. Good luck with that." I giggled.

Amber came back. "So Mara, what's the plan about getting me a date for the prom? A girl wants to be swept off her feet." I rolled my eyes. Not always, I prefer both feet firmly on the ground.

A hand landed on my shoulder. I turned my head to see Fabian, grinning. "Mary Ann, can I speak to you? Now."

"Yeah, sure." I shrugged. I made the excited puppy part of me heel.

"Yeeaaah." Mick winked. "Go for it, dude!" I blushed when some of them started to coo. I entered the hall and Fabian led me to his room. I immediately sat on the bed. Fabian sat on the other side, but right next to me.

"OK, look at this." Fabian tapped a book laid out on the covers. "According to the legend, Anubis was so angry with Amneris for hiding the Cup in the tomb, he struck it seven times." I waited for him to continue. "_Seven_. L-Look at this picture." I glanced at the book. There was Anubis and Amneris, and then a bunch of separate things at their feet. "The Cup is broken into seven pieces."

"And?" I asked. This was making no sense. He laid the broken pieces of a mug (I'm guessing the one Mick broke) and started fitting them together. Reassembling the mug.

Realization struck me. How could I have been so stupid? "Oh! So the puzzle pieces are actually the seven pieces of the Cup!"

"That is what I'm saying." He said. "Especially when you look at this." He placed the puzzle piece he carried that was in the demi-sphere on the bed. He pressed something in the middle, and it expanded. Blades spun out, making a bowl.

"Whoa!" I said, backing away when it first spun out. I relaxed when I saw the bowl. "Whoa…" Fabian picked up the bowl.

"This," he said, "is the demi-sphere." It made sense, since it looked like half of a sphere.

"We have the Cup!" I exclaimed. "But we never knew?" He nodded excitedly. "We've got to put it together!" I stood up. "S-Sibuna meeting! Calling a Sibuna meeting tom–" I stopped myself, wincing at how forgetful I had gotten.

"Mary Ann?"

"We can't tomorrow." I explained. "Amber is taking us dress shopping. For prom. But I should tell the girls anyways! Omigod, I'll go tell them now!" I was halfway out the door when Fabian called my name. I turned around, heart beating hopefully. I smiled, waiting for him to talk.

"It's about this prom that Mara's organizing…" he started.

"It's no problem." I took over. "I think you should tell her before she goes with someone else."

"What?!" he exclaimed in a strange tone. Panic? "N-no, Mary Ann–"

"See you later, 'gater." I cut him off. I closed the door behind me. Don't feel hurt, Mary Ann. It will all work out. Maybe.

"Just as I thought…" I jumped, looking to see Victor by the mirror in the hallway. He didn't notice me. "Empty." I decided to play it casual and walked from the door. "All empty." He said, and then just noticing me. I averted my eyes. He turned to me. "Where are they, Miss Norton?"

"The dining table?" I replied in confusion. But he wasn't looking for the housemates. He was looking for the Cup pieces! "I don't know what you mean."

"Oh I think you do," he said. He walked over to the two podiums that stood at the base of the stairs. One of them was hollow, and Fabian and I found an Ankh piece in there. Then Victor had took it from us and I stole it back.

He reached up and twisted the hollow one. He plucked it off. He walked back in front of me, still holding the hollow orb. "I am tired of all this fooling around. Now tell me what you know." I ducked my head, remaining silent. "Tell me."

"Sarah said Rufus took them." I squeaked suddenly, my mouth spouting lies before I could stop it. "The only one left was the one you took from me." I brought my gaze to his. "Why? What are they? Sarah never said."

"Better you don't know," Victor said grimly. "Now go to your room." Not arguing that dinner wasn't even over, I dashed up the stairs.

"Whoa, had a run-in with Victor. Sibuna meeting on Sunday. URGENT!" I texted the club.

_~ Saturday ~_

I expected this from Amber, but Mara? Not as much.

First, we stopped at a small boutique.

Mara's first dress didn't suit her at all. It was long, it was red, and it was sexy. Mara didn't have that sexy appeal, so we all vetoed it.

Amber's first was pink (obviously) and poofy like a prom dress normally looked like. She loved it, and we all thought it suited her, but she shot it down. Why? I had no idea. Who could ever get into the head of Amber Millington?

The dress Patricia had was the one she bought. It was straight out night black. Ending at her knees, she wore was totally going to wear leggings underneath. The sleeves ended at her elbows. The collar was embedded with silver designs. Let's just say... We all agreed it was the dress for her.

I, on the other hand, couldn't find a single dress in the whole store that I liked.

After Mara and Amber tried on a few more, we went to about three more stores before Mara found hers. It was white with a black shawl. The hemming and collar were elaborately trimmed with black. The belt was black and sleek. Amber approved immediately.

At the next store, I finally found my dress. It was there, waiting for me. When I tried it on, the girls immediately said yes to it. The dress was long enough: reaching down to my knees. It poofed a bit, like my costume for the play, which gave me enough leg room to run. The bodice was tight fitting, yet comfortable. It was a one shouldered type dress, the one strap having a layer of fabric to create a wave. It was a deep carmine color that I absolutely adored. The hemline and neckline were trimmed with a bit of golden thread.

"Yes!" Amber squealed. "Yes, yes, yes! I even know what to do with your hair and make up to that!"

The other girls and I laughed. I did a twirl, extremely happy with this dress that I almost didn't want to take it off.

"I even have a pair of heels..." Amber went on. "You have to wear them with that dress!"

I blushed and curtsied. "Thanks, Ambs." I changed back to my normal clothes and then checked the price. Whoa, it was cheaper than I thought it would be.

After buying the dress and grabbing a snack, we returned to the house. Amber was the only one without a dress, since she couldn't find "the one". She resorted to online shopping.

_~ Next day, Sibuna meeting ~_

I called the Sibuna club to our grove. Patricia was the last one to come, saying "So what's this about?" as she moved to her spot.

"We've got a theory," I declared. "Fabian and I."

"We think all the pieces fit together and form the Cup." Fabian explained.

"Oh!" Patricia exclaimed. "Awesome theory."

I laid my jacket out on the group. "Individual pieces, please." I said, taking out my own and placing them on the jacket. They did the same… except Alfie. He looked like a puppy about to be whipped. "Alfie?"

"Alfie," Fabian said, "where's yours?" Oh no, he didn't…

"Alfie?" Amber asked when he didn't respond. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"What did you do?" I asked.

"I haven't got my Ankh piece anymore." He confessed. I paled. What?!

"Then where is it?" I questioned.

"I was showing it to Jerome." He said.

"Jerome!" Patricia cried. She and I stood up.

"Why on Earth's surface would you do that?!" I screeched.

"Alfie, how could you!" Amber shouted, her and Fabian standing up.

"No, it's worse!" Alfie exclaimed, interrupting us. "It's much, much worse." He sounded on the brink of crying now.

"In what way worse?" Fabian asked. How could it get any worse? Unless…

"Jerome took it and gave it to Rufus Zeno." Alfie confirmed. I started muttering curses under my breath, looking away from everyone.

"No!" Patricia cried again.

I ran a hand through my hair. "Did…" I said, struggling to calm myself enough to speak, "Did you tell him about Zeno?"

"NO!" Alfie said instantly, "I swear! Jerome knows loads of stuff already! I don't know how."

"Why would you show it to him in the first place?" I yelled.

"He just took it!" Alfie tried to explain. I kicked a pebble away.

_~ Back at school ~_

We cornered Jerome in the empty classroom before class started. Patricia leading.

"OK, slimeball," she started, "We need to know exactly what you told Rufus and how much he knows."

"Oh thanks very much, Alfie." Jerome blamed.

"Forget Alfie," Fabian defended, "just spill."

"And why should I?" he said cockily.

"You want to live, don't you?" Patricia threatened.

"I am not scared of you guys." Jerome told us.

"Maybe you should be." I growled. Patricia chorused me on the next line, "But we were thinking more about Rufus."

He paled. "Him, I'm scared of."

"Spill it, Clark." I snarled. He told us everything.

"So, basically, you sold your friends out for money?" Patricia summed up when he finished.

"Friends?" Jerome sat forward. "You are not my friends! You've made that quite clear."

"Hear this," I said, leaning on the desk he sat at. "If Rufus gets the other pieces, there is no saying what he can do."

"World domination." Patricia suggested. "The man's a control freak."

"You have to work with us, Jerome." Fabian told him.

"What is so special about these things?" Jerome questioned. "Rufus told me he was looking for treasure. An Egyptian cup or something." I ran a hand through my hair again. So it was a race for the Cup. It was all about the Cup. I walked down to the front of the class and sat in my seat, ignoring Jerome's questions.

Mrs. Andrews came in with workbooks in hand. "Sorry I'm late," she said. "I'm sure you all used the time wisely to plan your homework, your further education, and your glittering careers in government."

_~ After class ~_

We gathered at Jerome's locker. "Are you going to help us or not?" Fabian asked.

"Who's to say I wouldn't be better off sticking to my original plan?" Jerome replied angrily.

"What is that then?" Patricia questioned.

"Giving Rufus what he wants, and that way I get him off my back." He explained. "I stay alive and I get rich."

"You do that," Patricia sneered, "and we'll tell the teachers."

"The teachers?" Jerome's face scrunched up. "What have they got to do with it?"

"Everything!" Patricia and I said in unison. Patricia carried on, "I'm sure they'll be very happy to learn that you've been feeding their arch-enemy vital information."

"We've got to stick together, dude." Alfie said, more softly. "It's safer. Trust me."

Jerome slammed his locker shut. "Alright." He said. "So what do I have to do?"

"Yeah… right." Patricia said. Wait, we didn't have a plan yet. "What you have to do is… uh, Alfie?" She turned to him.

"Uh… Fabian?" he pushed on.

"Nope." He said simply. Jerome's gaze finally landed on me. A plan unraveled in my head.

"I've got an idea." I told them.

"I'm glad one of your does." Jerome said exasperatedly. "So what is it?"

I told them my idea. Fabian thought it was crazy, Alfie thought it was awesome, Patricia thought it was dangerous, and Jerome didn't like it very much. But they all agreed to go with it.

During Break, Sibuna and Jerome met up on the stage in the drama studio. I drew the curtains as Jerome called Rufus on his phone.

"I have the puzzle pieces for you." Jerome said. He glanced at us. "No, no, no. It's a bit complicated… They're hidden in the house, I know where they are but I need some help… Because I can't get into the secret hiding place by myself. Victor, Victor is curfew-tight, so I will sneak down and unlock the front door after lights out. Everybody else will be in bed." Jerome looked at me. I nodded, signaling that the plan was working smoothly. "Oh, and bring the other piece with you… Because you need it to get into the secret hiding place." He rubbed his eyes. "… Seven… So I'll meet you tonight, yeah? Midnight?" After a moment, he shut off his phone. He shuddered and rubbed his face again.

I fixed myself into a state of emptiness. Patricia, on the other hand, was amused. "You did so well!" she complimented. "And you didn't pee your pants, so bonus." I stifled a laugh.

"See you all at midnight, got it?" I ordered. "I've got some things to set up then."

_~ Midnight ~_

The grandfather clock chimed in the hallway. I took my locket out and opened the oven door. It flashed red and opened. I pulled it back, but not completely. It should be able to open when pressure is made.

"Stay." I ordered it. I got up and joined Sibuna in the door to the laundry room. After a second, Jerome's voice was heard through the door.

"Hand me the puzzle piece."

"What for?" I shivered. Rufus.

There was a scratching sound. OK, the oven door opened.

"Intriguing." Rufus commented. "After you." I froze. Shit, the back up plan had to kick in now. I was only supposed to lock Rufus in the cellar. When Rufus disappeared into the oven, we stepped out.

"Jerome wasn't suppose to go down there with him!" Fabian whispered.

"You think?" I snapped out of worriedness. "I can't trap them both!"

Amber and Alfie slid into the kitchen. "What's happening?" Amber asked. "Do we have to go get Victor yet?"

"Where's Jerome?" Alfie asked. Realization dawned on his face when we didn't say anything. "No… No, this is bad. This is very bad!"

"It was so simple!" I whispered to myself. "Get the puzzle piece from Rufus, trap him in the stupid cellar, and get Victor to find him."

"When Rufus realizes there are no puzzle pieces down there, he's going to mummify Jerome." Alfie said. I glanced down the oven.

"OK, guys," Fabian said suddenly, "I say we carry on with the plan as if it's just Rufus down there. Alfie, you go and slam the door. Amber, Patricia, you go upstairs and tell Victor. Mary Ann, you hide in the laundry room. If Jerome comes out and you get a chance to lock Rufus in there, do it." I nodded. "Sibuna?"

"Sibuna." We all said at the same time, doing the gesture. They left and I stood next to the oven. I jumped when the door slammed.

Come on, Jerome. Come on…

I took out my locket. Jerome's bright red pajamas suddenly entered my field. I grabbed him and pulled him out.

"Lock him in!" he shouted. I grabbed my locket and moved to shut the door. All at once, a hand clamped onto my extended arm. I saw Rufus's empty blue eyes.

I screamed.


	26. Finales

_Whoa, final chapter! It all comes down to this. Thanks to all who reviewed/Followed/Favorited this story. Ohsnapitscarly said I should do a sequel. So that is my major question. Should I write a sequel, about season 2? Leave your thoughts in the review box, I'd love to hear them. I've also made a poll, for those who don't want to review. For the final time, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX HOUSE OF FINALES**

I screamed. My other hand shot out to scratch his face with my fingernails. He grunted and used me to pull himself out. Jerome pulled me away from him, but Rufus shoved us. I fell back, head hitting the wall. My vision doubled.

"Mary Ann, are you OK?" Jerome asked. Shouting was heard in the hall. I groaned, rubbing my head.

"Merry." I snapped in an irked fashion. Victor shouted at everyone to get to bed. Fabian and Alfie returned to the kitchen. Jerome leaned against the sink. Alfie patted him on the back.

"I hope this is worth it." Jerome went cold, handing me the final Ankh piece.

"It is." I told him. "I'm just frustrated that we couldn't nab Rufus."

"Hey, no problemo, Mary Ann." Jerome said sarcastically. "Now listen up, I kept my side of the bargain. I got you back that – that thing. Now you keep your side, and you protect me from that – that maniac. Or else."

"Or else what?" I snapped back. "What else can you do?"

"I am going to the teachers, myself." He threatened. "And I am telling them everything that you have told me. About the search, about the puzzle pieces, about that Sarah woman, and about your little Scooby gig."

"You bring Sarah into this and you will have more to worry about than that maniac." I snarled, clenching my fists. Jerome just pushed off the sink and walked out of the room.

_~ Morning ~_

"Don't worry, Mary Ann." Patricia said during breakfast. "Jerome's just bluffing because he's scared of what Rufus might do. Can't say I blame him."

"And here he is," Fabian announced as Jerome entered. "Good work last night, Jerome."

"Nice one, mate." Alfie encouraged.

"There is still the small matter of Rufus getting away," Jerome reminded us, "And the fact that he still thinks I've got the puzzle pieces."

"Yeah, there is that but you could always say…" Fabian trailed off.

"That Victor took them." I offered.

"Right and that's when he mummifies me." Jerome stated. "Why don't we just give the puzzle piece back to Rufus and get him off our backs once and for all?"

"Do you really think if we give Rufus the pieces, we're in a stronger position than if we hold onto them ourselves?" Patricia said. "Because I don't. You need to speak to Rufus again. Play him along." Before he could argue, she added, "We hold the cards here, Jerome, not him."

"Maybe we need to try putting these pieces back together again." Jerome suggested.

"We will." I told him. "Tonight."

Amber came in screaming at that exact moment. We all turned to see her stopped in the doorway.

"I got a message on my profile!" she cried. "Someone blatantly wants me for their date!" She squealed and ran away.

"Good morning to you too." I said sarcastically. "So glad you're focused."

_~ School, Break ~_

"Sibuna, at seven." I told Patricia and Alfie. "To-night." They nodded. Amber walked in.

"Yo, meeting at seven." I told her.

"OK, no probs." She replied. "Although, I can't neglect my own little treasure hunt, the search for King Tut, which is proving to be surprisingly difficult. What about you and Fabian? Has he asked you yet?"

I shushed her. "No!" I blushed. "He doesn't like me like that!"

"Take it from Millington," she said. "He does." A smile etched across her face. "Why don't you ask Fabian?"

As if on cue, Fabian entered the room. "Ask me what?" he asked, looking at me with those gorgeous blue eyes and–

Snap out of it!

"U-uh," I stammered. "If it's true that… your favorite color's pink?"

He looked at me funnily. "What?"

"She's lying." Amber declared. 'Just ask him!' she mouthed.

My savior, Jerome, came walking in. "Hey, it's Jerry!" I left swiftly and practically attacked Clark. "Hey Jer," I said, looping arms with him. He jumped. "How's it hanging?" I pushed him to sit down with me. Immediately, Sibuna gathered around. The fake smile fell from my face. "How'd it go?" I asked seriously.

"He still trusts me." Jerome said.

"Told you so." I said.

"And he has told me more stuff about the Cup." I smiled genuinely. Really? Excitement attacked me.

"OK, guys!" Mr. Winkler took my attention. "Can we gather around in a circle, please, and we'll do some vocal warm ups. May, mee, mi, mo, mu."

_~ Evening ~_

Fabian, Patricia, Alfie and I met in my room. Amber was helping Mick dance… I guess.

"OK." Fabian called the clear as he closed the door.

"Still saying we should do this outside." I commented.

"It's almost dark out." Patricia told me. "What if Rufus is sneaking around out there?"

"What about Jerome?" Alfie asked. "Shouldn't we involve him in this too?"

"He attempted blackmail." I countered.

"True, but the more involved Jerome feels, the better it is for us." Fabian persuaded.

"Go get him." I sighed. "But I swear we are going to regret this." Alfie beamed and went out the door. Jerome returned with him a moment later. I took the Ankh pieces from under my bed. Everyone sat around me, but Jerome sat on Amber's bed. Alfie pushed my nightstand in front of the door.

"It won't work." Jerome said.

"Will you just shut up or leave the room?" Patricia snapped.

"We've got to try." I explained to him.

"Mary Ann, I'm telling you you'll never do it."

"Jerome!" Fabian snapped this time. "Watch us." The three of us picked up the items. Something knocked around in my head, screaming. Fabian and Patricia added the vase to the bowl and the house shook violently. The lights in the room flickered like mad.

"Mary Ann?" Fabian asked worriedly.

"Freaky…" Alfie commented.

"Is this supposed to happen?" Fabian asked. The knocking in my head grew harder.

"I-I don't know!" I replied. The pieces in my hand grew red and hot. Searing in pain, I dropped the pieces.

"It's not the right time!" Jerome told us. The shaking and flickering stopped. The pain in my head lessened to a numbing throb.

"It's eight o'clock, what's wrong with that?" I snapped.

"OK," he said in an irked tone, "Listen. I will tell you everything that Rufus said. Everything! In return, I want just one thing."

"Before you ask, Jerome, we don't any money so–" Patricia started.

"Actually," he interrupted. "I just want in. To your gang."

"The Sibuna gang?" I asked.

"Yeah." He replied. "You tell me everything, all your little secrets, and I will give you the info that you need. How to put the Cup together, and when."

I thought for a moment. Was he bluffing? No, the look in his eyes said differently. Plus, we really needed the information. I sighed. "Fine. Welcome to Sibuna. Now tell me." His grin was a little unnerving, but only because I had never seen it on his face before. He got up and joined us on the floor.

"Welcome aboard, dude." Alfie congratulated, high fiving him.

"Right, OK, so according to Rufus, the Cup can only be assembled on a very special date. Once every twenty-five years, and this date is coming up very soon."

"Soon?" I repeated. He nodded. "Soon when?" His expression told me he had no clue. I sighed again, ruffling my hair. I stared at the pieces.

_~ Night ~_

Something was squirming inside of me. My veins ached. My head spun. My body convulsed. Get out, get out, get out!

"Open your eyes, Mary Ann." A whisper called to me. Involuntarily, my eyelids opened. **I saw someone at the foot of my bed. A familiar someone. I shot up.**

**"Sarah!" I said aloud. She smiled at me. She wore a white nightgown, like she was going to bed.**

**"Here I am." She said excitedly.**

**"Sarah…" I repeated. "But… but you're… Am I still asleep?"**

**"I gave you a present, Mary Ann." She told me. "Why don't you open it?"**

**"Huh?"**

**"Twinkle, twinkle, little star…" she said, stepping back slowly. Then she… vanished.**

I shot up again, screaming "NO!" Dream, it was all a dream. It was all a dream…

_~ Morning ~_

Amber shopped online for her dress again. I sat at the table, chewing on a muffin. Only Sibuna was in the room. I explained parts of the dream.

"So," Fabian said, sitting next to me, "you think Sarah was trying to tell you something, Mary Ann?"

"Perhaps, but it didn't make sense at all." I replied. "Something about presents?"

"The box!" Patricia said. "What about the box she gave you after she died?"

"Oh yeah…" Alfie said.

"What box?" Jerome asked from the kitchen. "Nobody here ever mentioned a box before." I bit my muffin. "Look, remember our agreement, you tell me everything."

"Should I also tell you my parents were murdered?" I snapped. Before anything could happen, Amber shouted from the couches.

"Guys, I've had a breakthrough!" We all rushed over to her. "OK, peach blush or hazy blue?" I stared at the screen. Oh, dresses again. Fabian left.

"What?" Patricia asked.

"Prom dresses," Amber explained. "Peach or blue?" Patricia and Alfie left. "Get your priorities right."

"Peach." I said randomly. I walked back to the table.

"OK, blue it is." Amber said.

"I heard that!" I shouted from the table.

"So do you think she meant the box that she entrusted to you?" Fabian asked me.

"Possibly." I shrugged. "You never know."

"Guys, guys!" Jerome called to us. "Listen to this!"

"No!" Amber protested.

"Amber has just asked me to be her date to the prom!" Jerome finished. Amber stood abruptly.

"I did not!" she yelled. "That is not what I said!" Jerome was still laughing. I rolled my eyes, like Amber would ever like Jerome. Crazy Clark.

I picked up my bag and another muffin.

"Mary Ann!" Fabian called after me just as I entered the main hall. "Mary Ann!" I stopped to let him catch up. "I wanted to…" he stopped. "Ask. Not ask, tell. No, not even tell–"

"Spit it out!" I giggled.

"About me and Patricia…"

"Yeah. It's fine. Have fun." I was about to walk away again when he grabbed my arm lightly.

"No, no, no, stop." He stuttered. "Listen. I don't know where… I think you've got the wrong end…" I pursed my lips. "What I'm trying to say is that I won't be asking Patricia to be my date." My heart pounded faster.

"You aren't?" Tame the happiness, Mary, he never said he was asking you.

"No," he said with a smile on his lips.

"And you're telling me this…? Why?" I said in attempt to tame the eager beast of happiness inside me.

"I was wondering if–"

"What is going on down there?" Victor boomed from his office, interrupting him. _Shut up, Victor _I wanted to shout. "Have you seen the time? You're late for school! Move it, move it!"

I smiled sheepishly at Fabian and ran out the door.

_~ After school ~_

"Oh, I forgot my iPod." I said aloud. I ran up the stairs. When I opened the door, I saw Jerome kneeling there, holding my bag and one of the pieces.

"What the hell?" I shouted. I took the bag and piece from him. I contacted the rest of the gang and we met up in Alfie's room, though Amber was still a no show. I dragged Jerome with me, not letting him out of my sight. I brought Sarah's box with me.

"I thought you wanted to be a Sibuna." Fabian said.

"I did!" Jerome cried. "I do, I– You don't understand. Rufus threatened me, and this time he meant it!"

"What happens now?" Alfie asked.

"We find out when the special date is." Fabian said. "And we take it from there. Mary Ann, can I have Sarah's box?" I passed it to him.

"OK, if we can keep the pieces until after the date, we might be in the clear." I offered. Fabian dug around in the box.

"For another twenty-five years at least," Patricia reminded me.

"But we don't know when the special day is." Jerome added. "It could be weeks away."

"I think I found something." Fabian passed the box to Alfie and started unfolding a piece of paper. Jerome started to get up from the bed he sat on, but I shot him a glare. He sat back down. Fabian laughed with accomplishment. "Look!" He turned it over so we could all see. It was a star chart! "It's a star map."

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star!" I realized. Everyone looked at me. "The last thing Sarah said in the dream." I explained.

"I don't recognize any of these constellations." Fabian said, looking at the map. I noticed some numbers written in white ink on the edge in the paper. "I'm going online. I'm going to check these out."

"I'll come too." I said. I was about to leave when I remembered the box. I snatched it from Alfie's hands and sent Jerome a death glare.

I followed Fabian to his room. He sat on his bed, typing away. I sat there, not really sure what to do.

"This is definitely an ancient Egyptian star map." Fabian told me after a moment. "This is the constellation of Osiris, this is Isis, but… what do the numbers mean?"

"Coordinates?" I suggested. "We've been thinking lots of stuff to be coordinates." I rubbed my stomach, much like a pregnant woman, remember how my history teacher said to remember longitude was to remember a pregnant woman's stomach like a globe, and the long strokes they made.

Fabian stared at the numbers. "Longitude, and latitude." He grinned at me. "Of course!" He started typing again. His eyebrows furrowed with concentration. He made a cute little frown. I couldn't help but beam. He was so…

His eyes flickered to me, and he caught me. He grinned slightly. "What are you smiling at?" he asked.

"The expression you make when you concentrate." I admitted happily. He chuckled and I glanced away.

"Mary Ann," he said. I looked back at him. "About this… end-of-term prom thing." I sat up straighter. "I was–"

Patricia barged into the room. "Guys, get this!" she said.

"Always." I muttered. There was always someone to interrupt.

She closed the door. "The Cup came only be put together by the Chosen One. By Joy!"

"Whoa, what?" I said. No way!

"Jerome just told me." She said. "I have to call her and warm her. Do we know the date yet?" Fabian returned to his computer.

"Not yet," he said. "But…" He continued to tap. "YES!" he exclaimed. "They were coordinates! And now we have a date and time." He smirked at me. "Nice work."

I grinned slyly. "When?"

"Friday. Midnight." He said. Of course it would be midnight.

"The day of the prom!" Patricia realized.

"This is it!" Fabian said excitedly. "We have the Ankh pieces. We know the date and time, we know who the Chosen One is! We can finally put the Cup together and finish the search!"

"But are we sure?" I checked. "Positively sure?"

Patricia nodded. "We have to call Joy."

_~ The next day ~_

"I don't care!" Amber yelled into her phone as she entered the student lounge. "I paid for the next day delivery and it hasn't arrived. If your ruin my prom I swear I'll…" She rolled her eyes at me. "OK, I'll hold."

I turned back to the rest of Sibuna. "I'm just worried about keeping the pieces safe." I said.

"I know, it's fine carrying them around with us, but what if the teachers organize another bag search or something." Fabian agreed.

"Leave that with me." Patricia stepped up. "I've got an idea."

"Yeah?" I asked. She glanced behind me.

"I'll tell you later, OK?" she said.

"Tell her what?" Jerome asked. I turned to see him walking to us.

"The less people that know, the better." Patricia sneered. "Loose Lips."

"I have told you," he pointed at us. "I am going no where near Rufus ever again." His phone beeped. He took it out, and groaned. "Oh, speak of the devil. Literally. I'm surprised my phone didn't burst into flames." He read the message and visibly paled.

"What's he say?" Alfie asked.

"It's not repeatable." He replied simply. Alfie made an 'ooh' sound.

_~ Evening ~_

Jerome led the housemates to secretly watch Fabian and Mick work on their dancing. Eventually, they formed a symbiotic bond and danced with each other! To finish, Mick dipped Fabian. We all came out, clapping and laughing. Mick dropped Fabian on the floor.

"Beautiful!" I shouted over the laughter. They blushed, making me laugh louder.

_~ Morning ~_

I walked into the kitchen. "Good morning." I smiled at Fabian. I sat down and took a muffin.

"Uh, Mary Ann, great." He stammered. I was suddenly very aware of how it was just the two of us in the room. "Uh, look, l-listen, I was wondering if you would like to–"

"Yes." I interrupted. You didn't know he was going to ask you to the prom.

Shut up, you pessimistic part of my brain.

"You didn't let me finish." He said.

"We'll get interrupted." I stated. On cue, Patricia walked in saying good morning. "Told you."

"Wait," he protested, "but now I don't know if you said yes to what I was going to ask. And you don't know if I was going to ask you what you thought I was going to ask you." We were both confused by the end of that.

"Do you ever make any sense?" Patricia and I said at the same time.

"We have got to stop doing that!" I laughed to her.

"Patricia," Fabian turned to her. "Could you go out of the room for a second?" His tone was like he was talking through gritted teeth. "There's something I have to ask Mary Ann."

I shrugged when Patricia looked at me. Realization hit her. "Oh. Yeah, sure. No problem." She got up and left. I waited until she closed the door behind her.

"Now spit it out before a meteor strikes!" I pressured.

"Mary Ann, would you like to go to the prom with me?" he said without stuttering.

"Yes." I repeated my answer.

Fabian sighed, "Yes." Then he realized something. "Yes?"

"Yes." I confirmed.

"YES!" he cheered, gripping my hand.

"Adorable." Patricia said, reentering the room. "Now I am starving." Fabian smiled at me.

"I'm going to prom with Fabian." I told Patricia.

"No way," she cried, "I thought I was supposed to be going with Fabian!" My smiled faded. Wait…

She cracked up, pointing at us. I sighed with relief. Phew, she's just joking.

_~ Friday Night ~_

Apparently Amber ordered a doll's dress. She got so upset that when the night came, she threw dresses at Mara, Patricia, and me. She claimed she wouldn't be going to the dance.

"Can you at least help me get ready?" I asked her. She nodded somberly. I took a quick shower, and when I came back the beautifying began.

She started with the painful. Waxing. She waxed whatever hair I had left from my legs and underarms. She shaped my eyebrows as well. After that, she partially dried my hair quickly with a hair dryer. Then she took a straightener to it. But, as she planned, when we tried to flatten my hair, it only made it wavy. Then she did my make up. Black eyeliner, simple eye shadow, and lip-gloss. She didn't apply any mascara because my eyelashes were long and thick enough.

"Have I ever told you how lovely your eyelashes are?" she asked me.

"No." I replied.

"Well, don't ever use mascara. Your eyelashes are perfect."

"Thanks." I slipped on the dress.

She handed me some wedge heels. "Wear these. Have fun." She said sadly.

"Come with me," I begged. "You're Amber Millington. You won't let this stop you."

"No," she replied, crawling back into bed. "Go. I would have wanted it this way." I didn't want to leave, but she kept giving me this look. I stepped into the hallway to meet Mara and Patricia.

"Oh, you look gorgeous!" Mara exclaimed when she saw me.

"As do you." I said as I curtsied. "So do you Trixie."

"Let's get going." She smiled in response. We descended the stairs, Alfie rushing past us on the way down, holding a flash of blue. He had bumped into Mick, who was having his tie tied by Fabian, on his way, which causing both him and Fabian to see us girls cascade the final steps.

I raised an eyebrow at Fabian. He looked amazing in a tuxedo, which made me take a mental note to take a picture of him before the night was over. His smile brightened when he saw me.

"Wow." Mick said, looking at Mara.

"Whoa." Fabian commented, only looking at me. I blushed. "Wait, where's Prom Queen Millington?"

I averted my gaze. None of the girls answered. Alfie came running down the stairs. "Amber's getting ready." He said. I beamed at him. He got Amber to go to the prom?

Sibuna and I broke off from Mick and Mara into the living area. "I hope we get the chance to sneak away to meet Joy," I said in a low voice. "The teachers will be watching us incredibly close."

"I hope Joy can get away from her dad." Patricia said. Someone gasped at the doorway. We turned to see a teary-eyed Trudy.

"Oh my word," she said breathlessly. "Don't you all look so… grown up and beautiful!"

"Thanks Trudy." I said.

"Oh Patricia," she walked up to our group. "This was pushed under the door. Last minute date perhaps?" She handed Patricia a letter. "Very romantic." Patricia looked at me with skepticism. "Where's Amber?" I looked to the main hall. Trudy left, calling "Amber?" We entered the main hall as well.

"Here," she called. I gasped when I saw her. If she thought I was beautiful… Amber was a goddess. Her blue dress was gorgeous, and her hair was curled so it fell across one shoulder. She had blue eye shadow on and was holding a silver hand-purse. Trudy started to clap, and I joined, as did everyone else. Jerome joined us in the hallway, clapping as well when he saw her. Amber glared at him.

"I have nothing to say to you, dress thief." She spat coolly.

"Ooh, want some ice for that burn?" I called. Alfie met her at the bottom of the stairs, giving her a corsage.

"Somebody better pinch me," he said dreamily. "Ow!" Amber actually pinched him!

Everyone filed out. Patricia, Fabian and I were the only ones left in the hallway. "It's mirrored writing again," Patricia said as she read the letter. "It must be from Joy, change in plan." She held it up to the mirror.

"Meet me in history classroom before prom." She read out loud. "Yeah, she wants to meet me earlier in the history classroom. I wonder why…"

"Let's find out." I said with a smirk, holding out a hand. She rolled her eyes playfully, but didn't take it. I linked arms with Fabian and the three of us left the house.

"Why did the Chosen Hour have to been on the same day as our prom?" Amber complained as we made out way to through the school halls. "The universe is so selfish sometimes."

"It's important, Ambs." I replied. I opened the door to find Mr. Winkler in room, in a tux.

"Hey guys." He said in surprise. "Why are you not at the dance?"

"Why aren't you?" Patricia asked as the rest of us entered the room.

"I am waiting for my date with Miss Robinson." He admitted sheepishly. "Patricia, what's in the bag?" He eyed the bulky bag Patricia had brought with her. "I hope your not trying to smuggle contraband into prom."

"No," Patricia scoffed. "It's just… girly stuff that girls use. I can be really girly at times." I held back a snicker.

"OK, then you won't mind if I take a look?" He took the bag from Patricia. Just when he opened it, the door slammed shut. I yelped in surprise, all of us turning to see Rufus blocking the door. He held an hourglass with some red things buzzing around.

"Red, acidic sandflies." He said. "Very rare, quite vicious, and certainly deadly. Now everyone do as I say or I break this glass." I held my breath. "You," he nodded at Fabian. My body froze. "Get the blinds. The rest of you, get over there." I moved along with everyone else to the desks. Fabian went to the windows, closing all the blinds.

"Now," Rufus turned to our History teacher, "you get the Elixir and the Chosen One. I want them within the hour or I break this glass."

"You're insane." Mr. Winkler told him.

"Very observant," Rufus brushed off. "Now, go." Mr. Winkler looked at us. I caught the fear in his eyes, matching everyone else in the room. He left. Rufus locked the door behind him. I gripped Fabian's hand.

"Oh," Rufus said, as if he forgot, "Apologies, Patricia, this time the note was not from Joy. Sorry to disappoint. But at least I get what I came for." He placed the hourglass on the desk where Patricia's bag sat. "The Ankh pieces. All seven…" He pulled out a plastic water bottle.

"What's this?" he asked her. I made eye contact with Patricia. Fear sparked everywhere. Rufus dug out more water bottles. "Where are my Ankh pieces? You will all pay for this."

"They're safe." I whispered to Patricia.

"Yeah, but are we?" she replied. I gripped Fabian's hand tighter.

"Where are the Ankh pieces?" Rufus growled.

"Today of all days, we're going to carry them around?" I snapped back. "Do you think we're that stupid?"

"You gave them to Joy didn't you." Rufus concluded. "You do realize that she is part of all of this, don't you?"

"Yeah, she's the Chosen One." Patricia said. "We're not stupid."

"Who wants the Cup just as much as else? You have played straight into their hands!"

"No, no, no, no," Jerome argued. "Trixie, don't believe him, he's a liar! He's playing you!"

"Oh really? Thanks for telling me about the post-rendezvous with Joy, Jerome. You've been a very useful spy." Rufus jeered.

"I did not tell you, creep!" Jerome yelled at him. Fabian left of my hand to hold him back. He turned to us. "I did not double cross you guys, I swear I didn't all this time!"

"We believe you, Jerome." I assured him. "You're just jealous because Joy's on our side. Besides, you'll get your stupid pieces when Jason brings her and the elixir."

A knock rang across the room. We all turned to the door. "Jason?" Miss Robinson? "Are you in there? I'm sorry I'm late, I got a flat." Rufus snuck by the wall, out of sight. The six of us Sibunas held still. Amber grabbed my hand. "Jason?" Miss Robinson's figure left the door and reappeared by the faded window. She disappeared.

Patricia's phone vibrated. "What's that?" Rufus asked. He took the phone from her. "A missed call from Joy, how interesting." He handed her the phone. "Call her back and tell her to meet here immediately with the pieces."

"No." Patricia replied bluntly.

Rufus shook the hourglass at her. "They are getting very angry and so am I."

"Patricia, call her." Amber said in a scared tone. I couldn't feel my legs. Rufus held out the phone. Patricia took it and dialed back. She waited for a moment.

"It rang and rang and now it's just switched over to her voicemail." Patricia said. Rufus took the phone and listened. Angrily, he threw the phone across the room, which shattered.

"You're paying for that!" Patricia cried.

"SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" he snarled. We all sat down at the desks. He walked over to the front desk. "Time is running out for you people." He told us. Amber started rambling about how sorry she was for everything she did.

"Amber!" Fabian interrupted. "Not helping, really not helping."

"You don't know that!" she retorted. I took a deep breath.

"Sarah… Sarah, I'm so sorry that we failed you." I cried softly. A rap came at the door. Miss Robinson!

"Jason," she said with sass, "I don't know if you're in there or not, but if you are, hear this. I don't respond well with getting stood up. You're dumped."

"Feisty." Alfie commented as she left.

"Well," Rufus said, clenching his jaw. "Looks like we've all been dumped." He leaned against the desk and let out a breath. "Your teachers have clearly abandoned you to your fate." He picked up the hourglass and I held my breath. But then he started to twist the glass in his hands.

"It's over," Fabian said after a long moment of silence. "Why don't you just let us go?"

"It's not over," Rufus informed us, "until the Hour itself is over. They're probably putting the Cup together as we speak."

"Maybe they've already done it!" Fabian yelled. The thought of that made everything feel worse. "Beaten you to it! It's time to give up."

"No, you're all still alive," Rufus said. My eyes narrowed. "So clearly they haven't drunk from the Cup." Wait, what?

"Say that once more?" I asked.

"Oh yes," Rufus said. "Oh Victor and the others think it's all symbolic, the tipping of the scales. The symbolic flow of life force from the young to the old. Only immortality comes with a price."

"So we're going to…" I stopped myself.

He nodded. "It's a life for a life, my dear. I think I saw your name down there in the cellar." I paled, realizing what he meant.

"What's he talking about?" Jerome asked.

"Fabian, Fabian, the bronze coins! The ones with our names engraved on them! And the scales!" I yelled to him across the room. Oh how much I wanted to be next to him if this really was the end.

"Mary Ann, don't worry, it's going to be OK." He assured me.

"Is still have time to relieve Victor of the Cup." Rufus realized. I could see a plan forming in his head. His eyes flickered to me. "You," he pointed. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. My knees banged against the desk but the pain was barely recognizable over the fear. "You are coming with me."

I started to scream. The next part was a blur, but Fabian yelled something and Rufus was tackled by him. The hourglass went flying into Alfie's hands. Jerome and Alfie yelled. Jerome ran to the door, key in hand. We all followed. He unlocked it and we started to pile outside. Amber shoved the hourglass into my hands.

Jerome yelled at me to throw it, so I hurled it at Rufus, who was just getting up. We sprinted out the door, Jerome slamming it shut. Rufus let out an awful scream. I ran into Fabian, arms wrapping around his waist, face burying into his chest. His arms wrapped around me, but the state of fear I was feeling remained.

"Are you OK?" he asked me.

"Ru… Ru…" I pointed back to the room, unable to speak.

"It was either him or us, Mary Ann," Jerome told me.

"We've got to get to the teachers." I spoke. "They can't drink!"

"What happens if they do?" Jerome asked, clearly oblivious.

"Someone dies," Patricia filled him in.

"Dies?" Amber screeched.

"Yeah," Fabian said, "but there's no reason to be scared." No reason? Our lives were in danger!

"Let's get over there and stop them!" Jerome said, pointing away. We all ran after him. The night was dark and cold, but the adrenaline kept me warm. We burst through the front door, and found Joy sitting on the staircase. She hugged Patricia.

"Oh, you're safe!" she exclaimed.

"Joy, what happened?" Patricia asked.

"Nothing happened." Joy said happily. "I'm not the Chosen One, there is no Cup."

"They…" I took a deep breath to make up for my windedness. "They said you were Chosen because of your date of birth, right?"

"Yeah, seventh of July." I paled.

"That's my birthday as well!" I whispered.

"What?" Fabian said. "Joy, you were born seven AM, right? The seventh hour of the seventh of the seventh."

"No, seven PM." She corrected.

"Mary Ann?" Fabian looked at me. They all looked at me.

"In the morning, I never asked." I said truthfully.

"I bet it was seven AM." Fabian smiled. "The true seventh hour!"

"It would be the American, wouldn't it?" Jerome commented.

"Guys, it's a quarter to one," Fabian reminded us, "We've got fifteen minutes of the Chosen Hour left. Where are the pieces?"

"Still down there, I think." Joy told us, looking at the open cellar door.

"Mary Ann?" Fabian asked me. I… I was the Chosen One?

"Mary Ann, hurry!" Sarah's voice echoed the hall. "You don't have long! Make the Cup!"

I squeezed my eyes shut. I was the Chosen One. OK... No, not okay! Holy fucking crap! How was I supposed to take this? How was I supposed to be the "hero" and save the world? I forced myself to take a breath. I didn't have time to contemplate myself. I opened my eyes. "Let's go." We went down into the cellar. Candles were still lit, but the wax was running low. The pieces were spread out on a table, surrounded by the scales. The base of the Cup had already been made. I took out Sarah's locket and squeezed it.

"You are the Chosen One, Mary Ann." Sarah's voice echoed in the cellar. "This is your destiny." She appeared in behind the table, in her white nightgown. "Make the Cup." I nodded.

"You have to say the incantation." Joy informed me. "With this circle of light, I seal the circle of life." I nodded again. I picked up the handle of the Cup, and then the bowl/demi-sphere. I murmured the incantation as I placed the bowl on the handle. My hands moved on their own, I picked up our first two pieces and lift the tethering ring with them, placing it on the bowl. It was like they were magnetic, because they stuck. I adjusted the two pieces to connect the ring to the bowl. I let go.

But nothing happened. "Why isn't something happening?" I said.

"Mary Ann, look, your locket!" Amber cried. I glanced down at it. It was glowing bright red. Drawn to the Cup. I held it out and the Cup exploded with a bright light. It made a hypnotizing tornado of light, spiraling around the Cup, sealing it into one piece. The light was so beautiful, so bright, so unifying…

"Mary Ann!" Fabian's voice rang out in my ears about the deafening silence. The tornado ceased, leaving only the Cup. The bronze was replaced with a golden sheen. Colors were more defined in the shape of flowers. It was…

"That is the most beautiful accessory I have ever seen." Amber voiced my thoughts.

"You did it." Fabian said.

"I've got to hide it." I said. "Forever."

Amber screamed, being yanked out of my vision. I turned to see Rufus, or I thought it was Rufus. His face was red with nasty boils. He clutched Amber close.

"Not unless I have something to do with it." Rufus threatened.

"Rufus!" Jerome declared.

"I knew it!" Alfie shouted. "The bad guy always comes back!"

"Did you think that I would expose myself to the deadly acidic sand-fly without first equipping myself with an antidote?" Rufus questioned. "And now, I have the queen, which I will put in this pretty girl's ear unless you do exactly what I say." I stared at Amber's terrified expression, unable to do anything.

"You." Rufus nodded at me. "Give me the Cup. You." He looked at Fabian. "Get the Elixir." When Fabian didn't move, he shouted, "Quickly! We only have a few minutes." He shook the fist with the queen in Amber's ear. She screamed, shrill and loud. I picked up the Cup.

"Yes!" Rufus said greedily. He snatched it from my hands. He looked to Fabian, who now held the Elixir. "Now pour it in! All of it! ALL OF IT!" Fabian uncorked the bottle and tipped the liquid into the Cup. I watched it swirl around for a second. Rufus muttered something before shoving Amber towards Alfie and the fly in the opposite direction. I scooted closer to Fabian, away from the direction of the fly.

Rufus brought the Cup to his lips and drank. "NO!" I screamed without thinking. "You're _tainting_ it!" He finished the elixir. He lifted the Cup triumphantly.

"Finally, eternality is mine!" he shouted.

"No!" Victor shouted, appearing in the entryway of the cellar.

"Ah, Victor!" Rufus smiled slyly. "How lovely to see you." He glanced at the Cup with fake surprise. "Oh I'm so sorry." He shook the Cup up side down. "There's none left. Shame." He opened the furnace and threw the Cup into the flames.

"NO!" we all shouted.

"Why, Rufus? Why?" Victor asked. His voice was… devastated. "We could have shared all this, that was our plan!"

"No, that was your plan, Victor." Rufus shot back. "I always had other ideas. Big ideas that your pathetic little Society would never even dream of. And then, I found the true meaning behind the tipping of the scales." I paled. I had totally forgotten. One of us was going to die. I looked back at Sibuna. I couldn't lose any of them!

"Well I decided to go it alone!" Rufus continued. He looked at us. "Is anyone feeling… poorly?"

Alfie took a shaky breath. "Actually…" he started. "I feel a bit dizzy." He collapsed onto the floor.

"ALFIE!" I screamed. My eyes began to prickle with tears.

"What's happening?" Victor asked while Jerome and Amber knelt on the floor. Alfie was choking.

"The symbolic life force, it isn't symbolic, Victor!" Rufus explained. "It really happens! That boy is going to die, and I, I am going to live forever!" Victor rushed to Alfie's side. I screamed his name. Jerome shouted. Rufus left, running up the stairs.

"Alfie," Amber said.

"Guys, listen up." Fabian tried to say. I ran to them.

"Please help him, I'll do anything!" Amber pleaded to Victor.

"GUYS!" Fabian shouted.

"Anything?" Alfie repeated. "Like, be my girlfriend?"

"Yes, Alfie!" Amber told him, "Anything!"

"Alfie!" Fabian shouted, "You can stop play-acting now!"

"Fabian!" I said loudly, "You know someone dies when the Elixir is drunk from the Cup!"

"Except Rufus didn't drink the Elixir, did he." Fabian questioned me. We all stopped and looked at him.

"What?" Patricia asked.

"He's not immortal." Fabian said.

"He's not?" Victor repeated.

"No." Fabian said. "You know our little insurance policy? Having two identical bags, letting Joy look after the pieces?"

"Yeah?" Patricia said. Alfie got up, not dying anymore.

"I had an insurance policy of my own." Fabian explained. He made eye contact with me. "I remembered our fake elixir, I borrowed the spare cellar key from Victor's office, threw away the real elixir, and replaced it with the fake one."

"You threw it away?" Victor said in disbelief.

"You genius!" I cheered. "I love you!" I threw my arms around his neck, feeling the adrenaline fade but my heart beat just as fast. Victor got up and stumbled away. I almost wanted to help him. He seemed like a lost old man.

"So, does that mean Alfie isn't really dying?" Amber asked. Alfie stood up.

"Don't sound so disappointed." Alfie told her. "I actually did feel a bit ill for a second."

"Alfie!" I rolled my eyes.

"Alfie, I was really worried," Amber spoke to him. "And worrying causes wrinkles."

"The Chosen Hour has past." I said suddenly. I blinked twice. Where did that come from? Fabian glanced at his watch and nodded. "Don't… Don't we have a dance to go to?" Patricia smiled at me. Amber led the way out of the cellar.

Everything was over. The Cup was destroyed. There was no more Elixir. Everything was over. I felt a whoosh of relief wash over me.

I closed the cellar door behind me, being the last one out.

"I guess it's all over." Fabian told me. It was only us in the hallway. I hadn't even realized it.

"Yeah." I smiled. I laughed. He smiled at me, and held out his hand. I smiled even more and took it.

"Mary Ann," Sarah's voice echoed the hall as Fabian pulled me towards the door. I stopped. "It's not over!"

I exhaled. "Really? Should I have guessed it was too good to be true?"

"What?" Fabian whispered to me.

"Don't your hear it?" I asked him. Patricia opened the front door. I turned around to see the cellar door open again.

"Mary Ann," Sarah whispered, calling me.

"Mary Ann?" Fabian asked.

I turned back to him. "Go on ahead." I told him. I smiled and did a peace sign. "I've got something to finish up." I walked back into the cellar. Sarah's ghost… spirit… essence, whatever you want to call it, appeared behind the table once more.

"What's happening?" I asked. She smiled at me.

"Take the Cup." She instructed. She looked to the furnace. I walked over to it and opened the small door.

Sure enough, the Cup sat there, flames not even touching it. I picked it up and walked back to the table. I held it out to her. She reached out and touched the rim.

"Now the Cup has been restored," she said, "the curse can be lifted." She removed her hands from the cup. Two middle-aged adults joined her ghost. I had seen them before, in the living room. They were her parents: Louisa and Robert Frobisher-Smythe. "We can rest in peace. Take it. Hide it. Keep it safe." Her parents vanished.

"Sarah, I love you." I whispered. She vanished as well. I smiled down at the Cup, and then at the locket around my neck. I knew where to hide the Cup.

I can't tell you where I hid the Cup. Or how I hid it there. It would go against everything.

But I returned to the dance a few short minutes later. I found Fabian instantly and tapped him on the shoulder.

"My gosh, where were you?" he asked. "I've been so worried."

"I had something to do first." I told him.

"OK!" Amber's voice was loud over the music. I turned to see her standing on the stage. "Listen up, guys!" The music stopped. "So, I've decided it's time to announce our Prom King and Queen. We haven't actually had a chance to vote, so I get to choose." I rolled my eyes. Of course. "So without further ado, the Prom King is Fabian Rutter." Everyone started to clap and Fabian froze up. I clapped him on the back and pushed him towards the stage.

He gave a questioning look to Amber before sitting down. "And," she continued, "the Prom Queen is Mary Ann Norton." It was my turn to freeze up. Everyone clapped and cheered. Mara gave me a gently push.

"What?" I whispered to Amber before climbing onstage.

"Would it have killed you to brush your hair?" she complained instead.

I ran a hand through it, "Yeah, it would have." I replied knowingly. The music started to play again and I sat down. It felt weird to place the tiara on my head. Fabian looked adorable in a crown.

"Now, dance you two!" Amber ordered. "Dance!" As if on purpose, a slow song started to play. We got up awkwardly and Amber left the stage. Some people clapped.

I laughed and wrapped my arms around Fabian's neck. I held him closer than I probably should have, but he didn't push me away. He placed his hands on my hips. We swayed awkwardly.

"Well this is mortifying." I laughed.

"Yeah, very." Fabian chuckled. I blushed. "Mary Ann, you look–"

"Stupid," I interrupted out of self-consciousness. "Absurd, bizarre, I know."

"I was going to say beautiful." He told me softly. I blushed deeper. "So do you want to tell me what happened?"

I shook my head. "You just called me beautiful… you just did, right?" I double-checked.

"Yeah," he admitted. If it was even possible, I blushed even deeper. "So why did you go back down into the cellar?"

I shook my head again. "Shut up and kiss me already, Rutter." I leaned in and pressed my lips onto his. Something clicked. Sparks flew in my head. My brain melted and flowed into the rest of me. He kissed back.

He _kissed_ back. He liked me like that. Ha! Take that, troubled part of my brain!

In just that split second, our lips moved in synchronization. Then the crowd cheered. I pulled back, having totally forgotten them. We both laughed. The song changed to a more upbeat tune. But we didn't care. We swayed to the unheard music.

I leaned in and we kissed again.


	27. Hey!

My very first author's note! Cool. Anyways, I would find the utmost pleasure in announcing that the first chapter of the sequel IS UP! Thanks so much to everyone who wanted a sequel.

But I'm warning you now: I'm going on a trip tonight so I can't write much. I'll be working on the story when I get back, though.

Once again, the sequel (Marks of Anubis) is up and running. Thanks for the support.

Mari, out.


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